CORYLACEiE. 595 



Group XL. — Quernales. 



Order 99.— CORYLACE^E.— Lindley. 



Flowers generally monoecious ; sterile flowers in arnents, with a scale-like or regular 

 calyx, and the stamens 1 — 3, the number of its lobes. Fertile flowers solitary, 2 — 3 to- 

 gether or in clusters, with an involucre which encloses the fruit, or forms a cup at its 

 base. Ovary crowned by the rudiments of the adherent calyx, 2 — 6-celled, with 1 — 2 

 pendulous ovules. Stigmas several, subsessile, distinct. Fruit a bony or coriaceous 

 1-celled nut, more or less enclosed in the involucre. Seed solitary, exalbuminous. Em- 

 bryo large, with fleshy cotyledons. Radicle minute, superior. 



This very important order is composed of trees and shrubs, with alternate, 

 simple, straight-veined leaves, having deciduous stipules. They are found 

 in the temperate regions of both continents. Some .are natives of tropical 

 countries, but only on high lands. The main property of the order is astrin- 

 gency, depending on the presence of tannin and gallic acid. A narcotic prin- 

 ciple, which has been called Fagine, is found in the husks of the Fagus syl- 

 vatica or Beech. The nuts of most of the species are edible, as those of the 

 Chestnut, Hazel, and some kinds of Oak. In some, again, they are bitter 

 and unpleasant. In a memoir by Mr. Duhamel (Amer. Jour. Pharm.), 

 he states that Dr. Henbener, of Bethlehem, had employed the short, rigid 

 hairs of the involucre of Corylus rostrata as a substitute for those of Mil- 

 cuna, and found them to be equally anthelmintic. 



Quercus. — Linn. 



Flowers monoecious, amentaceous. Sterile flowers, with membranous bracts, 4 — 5- or 

 more cleft. Stamens 5 — 10, short, subulate. Fertile flowers: involucre hemispherical, 

 imbricated, coriaceous, 1-flowered. Calyx in 6 minute, sharp, downy segments, closely 

 surrounding the base of the style. Ovary globose, 3-celled, with 2 ovules in each. Style 

 solitary, short and conical ; stigmas 3, obtuse, recurved. Nut single, oval, coriaceous, 

 indehiscent, 1-celled, attached by a broad scar to the involucre. Embryo solitary ; radi- 

 cle superior. 



A very large and important genus, principally of trees, rarely shrubs, 

 with evergreen or deciduous leaves, which are entire or sinuately lobed. A 

 large proportion of the species are natives of North America. They a*re of 

 far greater use in the industrial arts, than as affording medicinal agents, 

 their general character being that of astringents. It would be useless to at- 

 tempt even to enumerate the species, and therefore only such of the species 

 as have been employed in medicine, will be noticed. 



1. Q. alba, Linn. — Leaves oblong, pinnatifid-sinuate, pale or pubescent beneath ; lobes 

 oblong, obtuse, mostly entire ; cup deep, tuberculate ; gland ovate. 



Willdenow, Sp. PI. iv. 448 ; Micjiaux, N. A. Syl. i. 17; Torrey, Comp. 

 359; Barton, Comp. Fl. Phil. ii. 171. 

 Common Names. — White Oak. 



A large tree, found in all parts of the Union, but most common in the Mid- 

 dle States, and much esteemed for its wood, which is extensively employed 

 in ship building. The bark is officinal in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. When 

 prepared for use it is deprived of its epidermis ; it then presents a coarse 

 fibrous texture, is tough, and separates into short filaments when attempted to 

 be pulverised. It is of a yellowish-brown colour, has but little odour, and 



