Obder 119.— CUPULIFBB^. 64*7 



slender peduncle; calyx 6-cleft, campanulate; stamens 5 to 12. $ 

 Flowers 2, within a 4-lobed, prickly involucre composed of united linear 

 scales; calyx with 5 to 6 minute lobes; ovary 3 celled, 6-ovuled ; 

 styles 3 ; nut 1-seeded, acutely 3-angled, enclosed within the enlarged, 

 spiny involucre or capsule. — Lofty trees, with smooth ash-colored bark. 

 Lvs. alternate, plicate in vernation. Buds slender, pointed. 



P. sylvdtica L. (Figs. 438, 4*71 — L 46, B.) Lvs. broadly ovate-lanceolate, 

 briefly petiolate, obtusa at base, oiliate, with soft white hairs when young, at 

 length nearly glabrous, with small, remote teeth, apex acuminate ; buds lanceo- 

 late-cylindrio, imbricated with brown scales, developing both leaves and flowers ; 

 nuts ovoid triangular, obtuse-mucronate. — A common forest tree, abundant in the 

 U. S. and Can. The trunlc is tall and straight in forests, 50 — 80f high, but lower 

 and with an expansive head in open situations, always known by the light gray, 

 unbroken bark. Leaves with very regular and straight veinlets, 4 — 6' long, J as 

 wide, often persistent through the winter, i Aments pubescent, peduncles 2' 

 long, l^ut small, 2 together in the 4-lobed burr, oily, sweet and nutritious. Tim- 

 ber compact, fine-grained. May. (P. ferruginea Ait.) Tub Red Beech is now 

 regarded only as a variety, with the wood softer, and of more easy cleavage, and 

 perhaps a slight difference in foliage. There are several beautiful varieties in cul- 

 tivation, with purple foliage, silver foliage, &c. See garden catalogues. 



4. COR'YLUS, Tourn. Hazel-nut. (Gr. Kopvf, a bonnet ; to which 

 the cupule enwrapping the nut may well be compared.) S Flowers in 

 a cylindric ament; calyx of 2 scales united at base to the bract; sta- 

 mens 8 ; anther 1 -celled. $ Involucre of 2 to 3 scales, 1 to 2 -flowered; 

 calyx adherent to the 2-C6Hed, 2-ovuled ovary ; stigmas 2 ; nut ovoid, 

 surrounded with the enlarged, coriaceous, lacerated involucre. — Shrubs. 

 Aments and capitate fertile clusters subterminal, expanding before 

 the lvs. 



1 C. Americana Walt. Lvs. roundish, cordate, acuminate ; invol. roundish, cam- 

 panulate, much larger than the roundish nut, its border dilated and coarsely ser- 

 rate. — Shrub 5 to 6f high, girowing in thickets and borders of fields, U. S. Lvs. 

 3 to 6' long, I as wide. From the ends of the branches hang the long, pendulous 

 aments of barren fiowers in April. The nuts are remarkably distinguished by 

 the large, bell-shaped invol. in which each one is enveloped. They are a well- 

 iiavored fruit, though somewhat inferior to the European hazel oi fllhen-t. 



2 C. rostr^ta Ait. Lvs. oblong-ovate, acuminate; stip. linear-lanoeolate ; invol. 

 campanvMe-ivhular, longer than the nut, 2-parted, with dentate segments. — This 

 species is found in the same localities as the former, is a rather smaller shrub, and 

 chiefly differs from it in the involucre which is covered with short, stiff hairs, and 

 contracted at the top into a long (1 to 1-J-'), narrow neck, like a bottle. Nuts as 

 in C. Americana. May. 



3 C. Avellina L. Filbert. Lvs. roundish, cordate, acuminate; stip. 

 ovate-oblong, obtuse ; invol. scarcely exceeding the fruit. — Shrub 3 to lOf high, in 

 gardens, &c. Lvs. nearly sessile, doubly serrate, 3 to 5' long. Sterile aments 3' 

 long, the fertile clusters at their base. Nut larger than the native species, f Asia. 



5. OS'TRYA, Michel. Hop Hornbeam. Iron-wood. Lever Wood. 

 (Gr. oarpeov, a scale ; in allusion to the conspicuous sacs (not scales) of 

 the fertile aments.) $ Flowers in a cylindric ament ; calyx scale round- 

 ish-ovato, ciliate, l-flowered; anthers 8 or more, conspicuously bearded 

 at the summit. $ Flowers geminate, in a loose, imbricated ament ; 

 flowers enclosed each in an inflated, membranous sac which at length 

 enlarged, contains the matured nut. — Small trees, flowering before 

 leafing. 



O. Virgfnioa "Willd. Lvs. ovate, acuminate, serrate ; fertile ament oblong, pen- 



