G.88] 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION 



151 



1. CarplnusCaroliniana,Walt. (AMER- 



ICANHOBNBEAM. BLUE OR WATER BEECH.) 



Leaves ovate-oblong, pointed, sharply 

 doubly serrate, soon nearly smooth. Fruit 

 with the scales obliquely halberd-shaped 

 and cut-toothed, % in. long, nuts ^ in. 

 long. A tree or tall shrub, 10 to 25 ft. 

 high, with a peculiarly ridged trunk; the 

 close, smooth gray bark and the leaves 

 are much like those of the Beech. The 

 wood is very hard and whitish. Common 

 along streams ; 

 sometimes cul- 

 tivated. 



C. CaroliniAna. 



2. Carplnus B6tulus, L. (EUROPEAN 

 HORNBEAM.) This cultivated species is 

 quite similar to the American, but can be 

 distinguished by the scales of the fruit, 

 which are wholly halberd-shaped, having 

 the basal lobes nearly equal in size, as 

 shown in the cut ; while the American spe- 

 cies has scales only half halberd-shaped. 



GENUS 88. QUlSRCUS. 



Large trees to shrubs, with simple, alternate, deciduous 

 or evergreen, entire to deeply lobed leaves. The leaves 

 are rather thick and woody, and remain on the tree either 

 all winter or at least until nearly all other deciduous 

 leaves have fallen. Flowers insignificant ; the staminate 

 ones in catkins; blooming in spring. Fruit an acorn, 

 which in the White, Chestnut, and Live Oaks matures the 

 same year the blossoms appear ; while in the Red, Black, 

 and Willow Oaks the acorns mature the second year. 

 They remain on the tree until late in autumn. The Oaks, 

 because of their large tap-roots, can be transplanted only 

 when small. Most of the species are in cultivation. The 

 species are very closely related, and a number of them quite 

 readily hybridize ; this is especially true of those of a 

 particular group, as the White Oaks, Black Oaks ; etc. 



