BIRCH FAMILY 55 
the nut and partially inclosing it, glandular-hairy. Nut subglobose, 
pointed, edible. On rich soil, borders of meadows and fields, and 
in oak openings. 
2. C. rostrata Ait. Beakep Hazrtnut. A shrub 4-8 ft. high. 
Young twigs near ends smooth. Leaves thin, little if at all heart- 
shaped, doubly serrate or incised, taper-pointed, stipules linear- 
lanceolate. Involucre completely covering the nut and prolonged 
into a beak beyond it. Common N. [The latter species is not 
nearly as widely distributed as the former; they cannot be readily 
distinguished from each other until the fruit is somewhat mature. 
The principal points of difference discernible before the fruit is 
nearly mature are the hairy twigs of No. 1 and the smooth ones of 
No. 2, and the fact that No. 1 has buds rounded at the apex and 
more slender and longer staminate catkins, while No. 2 has buds 
acute at the apex and thicker and shorter staminate catkins.] 
II. OSTRYA Scop. 
Small trees with gray bark and very hard wood. Leaves 
open and concave in the bud and somewhat plaited on the 
veins. Staminate flowers on slender, drooping catkins, sessile 
at the end of the growth of the previous season; stamens 
8-12, subtended by a bract; filaments forked; anthers hairy. 
Pistillate flowers surrounded by a tubular bractlet, which 
becomes large and bladder-like at maturity. Fruit a small, 
pointed, smooth nut; mature catkins hop-like.* 
1. O. virginiana K. Koch. A small tree with brownish, furrowed 
bark. Leaves ovate, acute, doubly serrate, often inequilateral at the 
base, short-petioled. Staminate and fertile catkins 2-3 in. long. In 
rich woods. Often known as “ironwood” and “leverwood.” * 
Ill. CARPINUS L. 
Trees with thin, straight-veined leaves, which are folded 
in the bud. Flowers appearing before the leaves. Staminate 
flowers in slender, drooping catkins, sessile at the end of the 
growth of the previous season; stamens 3-12, subtended by a 
bract; filaments forked; anthers hairy. Pistillate catkins 
spike-like, each pair of flowers subtended by a deciduous bract, 
and each flower by a persistent bractlet, which becomes large 
and leaf-like in fruit; ovary 2-celled, 2-ovuled; stigmas 2, 
thread-like. Fruit a small, angular nut.* 
