80 CHINESE ECONOMIC TREES 



deciduous or rarely persistant. Staminate flowers in many flowered, 

 globose fascicles on drooping peduncles; calyx 4-7 lobed; stamens 8-10, 

 attached to the base of the calyx by slender filaments. Pistillate flowers 

 in clusters of 2-4, nearly sessile or rarely long stalked, surrounded by 

 numerous bractlets, the outer ones deciduous, the' shorter inner ones 

 united to form a 4-lobed involucre; calyx 4-5 lobed, 3 angled; ovary 

 inferior, 3 celled, 2 ovules in each cell; styles 3. Fruit 2-4 nuts inclosed 

 in a woody, prickly involucre which splits into 4 valves. Nuts ovate, 3 

 angled, chestnut brown, marked by a triangular scar at the base, crowned 

 with the remnants of the style. 



E. N. America, Europe, N. and C. China, and Japan. 



About 16 species are known. The beeches are characterized by 

 smooth gray bark and elongated, scaly pointed buds. The widely dis- 

 tributed European species, Fagus sylvatica, is an important timber tree, 

 remarkable for its tolerance of heavy shade, and on this account, it is 

 planted under oaks and pines to be harvested in 60-80 years before the 

 slower growing species come into maturity. In China the beeches form 

 pure forests of no great extent. The wood is hard and close grained, 

 strong but not durable, suitable for the manufacture of woodenware and 

 agricultural implements and when thoroughly impregnated with creosote, 

 makes fairly durable railroad ties. The nuts are sweet and edible, 

 occasionally ground into flour and in Europe, particularly in France, 

 largely expressed for a sweet oil used to adulterate olive oil, also for soap 

 making and for illumination. The beeches sprout freely from the stump 

 and are therefore suitable for coppice management. Drying destroys the 

 vitality of the seeds; they should be sown in a fresh condition. 



Fagus sinensis Oliver. 



(Fagus sylvatica var longipes Oliver.) 

 (Fagus longipetiolata Seeman.) 



Tree up to 16 m. tall. Leaves to 8 cm. long, oval, pointed, broadly 

 cuneate at the base with 10-11 pairs of veins ending in the teeth which 

 are sharply serrate ; petiole up to 1 cm. long. Fruit about 2 cm. long on 

 stalk about 5 cm. long or less. 



Hupeh, Szechuan and Yunnan. 



Dr. Henry reported a tree 15 m. in girth. Fagus sinensis usually 

 occurs in mixed woods in company with oaks and maples and other 



