BEECH FAMILY 



The beech tree lias evidently been the shining mark of 

 lovers from earliest days. 



Or shall I lather the sad verse repeat 

 Whieh on the beeeli's bark I hitely writ? 



— VlKGIL. 



On the sniiinth lieeelu'n rin:l the ]H-nsi\-e thinie 

 Car\'es in a thousand loi ins lier ianered's name. 



— Tasso. 



It is perhaps scarcely necessary to say that the beech tree 

 of ancient literature is not the American beech but I^iigiis 

 sylva/iLci, the common beech of Europe. Our beech differs 

 from the European species in its paler bark and the lighter 

 green of its leaves. 



CHESTNUT 



Casfi)iicn ifinla/a. Cns/i)iiL-a Vl'scli. 



From Castanea a town in Thessaly, or from another town of tliat 

 name in I'ontus. New \'orlv Indians call the chestnut, (J-heh- 

 yah-tah, Prickly Hur. 



Occasionally one hundred feet high ; grows rapidly and lives to 

 great age. Very common on glacial drift of northern states, rarely 

 found on limestone soils. Has stout tap root and thick rootlets. 

 Juices are astringent. Attains its greatest size in western North 

 Carolina and eastern Tennessee. 



Bark. — Grayish brown divided by shallow irregular fissures into 

 broad flat ridges. Branchlets at first light yellow green, finally 

 olive green and ultimately dark brown. 



Wood. — Reddish brown, sapwood lighter; light, soft, coarse- 

 grained, not strong, easily split and very durable in contact with the 

 soil; largely usetl in manufactuie of cheap furniture, interior of 

 houses, railwa)- lies, fence posts and rails. Sp. gr., 0.4504; weight 

 of cu. ft., 28. 07 lbs. 



Winter Buds. — IJark chestnut brown, ovate, acute, one-fourth an 

 inch long ; all lateral. 



Leaves. — Alternate, oblong-lanceolate, six to eight inches long, 

 acute or wedge-sha|5ed base, coarsely serrate, acute or acuminate. 

 Feather-veined ; midrib and veins prominent on the under side. 

 Convolute in the bud, late in unfolding ; when full grown are a dark 

 shining green above, a paler green beneath. In autumn they turn a 



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