BEECH FAMILY 
creamy tinted catkins in a wealth of bloom and proclaims 
that she, too, belongs to the fruit-bearing race and though 
late she is not belated. Though she blooms in midsummer, 
her nuts are ripe in early autumn, and the first frosts open 
the prickly burs and scatter the shining contents at the feet 
of any passer-by. 
Wilson Flagg speaking of the Chestnut says: “On this 
continent it is a majestic tree remarkable for the breadth 
and depth of its shade. It displays many of the superficial 
characters of the red oak so that in winter we cannot read- 
ily distinguish them. The foliage bears some resemblance 
to that of the beech but displays more variety. The leaves 
are long, lengthened to a tapering point and of a bright and 
nearly pure green. Though arranged alternately like those 
of the beech on the recent branches, they are clustered in 
stars, containing from five to seven leaves, on the fruitful 
branches that grow out from the perfected wood. When the 
tree is viewed from a moderate distance the whole mass 
seems to consist of tufts, each containing several long, pointed 
leaves, drooping divergently from a common centre.” 
The relation between the American Chestnut and the 
Sweet Chestnut of Europe has long puzzled botanists. Lou- 
don considers ours but a variety of the European ; Professor 
Sargent prefers to consider it a distinct species. The dif- 
ference between them in any case is slight and ours has the 
sweeter nut. 
Chestnut trees attain enormous size and great age. Lou- 
don says that the Tortworth Chestnut tree in Gloucester- 
shire, England, which is still in a healthy condition, was 
remarkable for its great size in the reign of King Stephen, 
1135 A.D., and is probably more than a thousand years old. 
The species has the peculiarity of sending forth vigorous 
shoots from a stump and these, growing in a sort of brother- 
hood, finally unite into a single tree. The famous Chestnut 
of a Hundred Horsemen on Mt. Etna in Sicily is believed to 
have been formed in this way by a group of five. A hundred 
years ago it had the circumference of two hundred feet at 
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