Fagus.'\ LXXII. CUPULIFEE^. 491 



of Fagus, witli soft bristles, enclosing a three-cornered nut, and in the case of 

 Gastanea with numerous sharp stellate prickles, enclosing a rounded nut. The 

 male flowers of Fagxjis are in pendulous heads, those of Gastanea in long slender 

 erect spikes, having at their base a few involucres with female flowers. The 

 cotyledons of Fagui are oily, raised aboveground, and become green when ger- 

 minating. Those of Gastanea are farinaceous, and remain imderground. 



Fagus sylvatica, Linn. ; Hook. Stud. FL 344, the Beech — Buche, Germ. ; HUre, 

 Fr. A large, not very long-lived, deciduous tree, with dense shady foliage, under 

 which no grass, and very few shade-enduring shrubs, such as the Holly, will grow, 

 but which enriches the soU. The tree bears a large amount of shade over- 

 head, and forms a most useful miKture with. Oak and Scotch Fir, the Beech 

 being cut at 80-100 years, and the Oak and Fir being left to attain twice that 

 age. The wood is white when fresh cut, turning into a reddish-grey when dry ; 

 it has no distinct heartwood. The pores are fine, numerous, uniformly distri- 

 buted ; the medtdlary rays numerous, not long, often interrupted, of two classes, 

 narrow and broad, appearing on a vertical section as shining plates. An excel- 

 lent fuel, but not durable, and apt to warp and split. Weight, 41-52 lb. The 

 wood is used for tools, furniture, wooden shoes, the keels of vessels ; and in 

 France, North Italy, and Austria, after impregnation with sulphate of copper, 

 for raUway-sleepers. The wood of clean stems which have grown up in compact 

 masses spUts well, and is made (in North Italy, Cansiglio forest near Treviso) 

 into sieve-iiames and similar articles. The Beech does not attain the same age 

 as the Oak, but it generally grows more rapidly. The tallest tree I have seen 

 is a renowned beech in thejSteigerwald, near Kloster Ebrach, Franconia ; 150 ft. 

 high, stem 90 ft. to the first branch, 15 ft. giith at foot, and 9 ft. at the first 

 branch, supposed to be 300 years old. Beeches exceeding 20 ft. girth are not 

 uncommon in England. Its home is Western, Central, and South Europe, 

 not in Greece, and if is common on the Taurus and Caucasus (Talish and 

 Elburg). Its north limit passes through the south of Norway and Sweden ; 

 it is not found indigenous in Russia north of the 52d degree north latitude. 

 In South Europe the Beech is only found at a considerable elevation, and 

 sometimes forms the upper limit of forest vegetation. On the moimtains of Cor- 

 sica, for instance, the vertical regions are as follows : 1°. Evergreen brushwood 

 (Maki) ; 2°. Finns Pinaster, Quercus Ilex, and Gastanea vesca ; 3°. Finns Lar- 

 icio ; 4°. Abies pectinaia (the Silver Fir) ; and 5°. the Beech. The tree has a 

 marked partiality for limestone and chalk ; well-known instances are the fine 

 beech-forests of Buckinghamshire, the luxuriant growth of the tree on the chalk 

 cliffs of Moen and Riigen, and the magnificent forests on Muschelkalk and Lias 

 in Central Germany. 



Gastanea vulgaris, Lam. ; DC. Prodr. ?;vi. iL 114.— Syn. C. vesca, Gsertn. 

 Sweet Chestnut— Ghdtaignier, Fr. ; Edelkastanie, Germ. A large, long-Uved, 

 deciduous tree,- of rapid growth while young, more rapid than the oak, and at- 

 taining a gigantic size, stems 30-40 ft. girth and certainly 1000 years old not rare 

 in South Europe, and much larger stems being on record — e.g., the renowned 

 chestnuts of the ^tna, two trees, sound and vigorous, 60-80 it., and one (cas- 

 tagno dei centi cavalli) hollow, in 5 pieces, more than 190 ft. girth. Sapwood 

 white, heartwood dark-brown, the annual rings distinctly marked by a belt of 

 large pores close together (spring wood), surrounded by an outer belt of more 

 compact wood with very fine pores, generally arranged in wavy lines. Medul- 

 lary rays very fine, numerous, which distinguishes chestnut from oak timber 

 at a glance. Weight, 37-54 lb. Old trees have often ring-shakes and central 

 hoUows, and the timber is not so durable as that of oak ; in the south of Europe 

 it is used for building, furniture, and cask-staves ; but the legends of the roofs of 

 old churches and other buildings made of chestnut timber, in France and Eng- 



