a. 91] 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION 



161 



1. Fagus ferruginea, Ait. (AMER- 

 ICAN BEECH.) Leaves thin, oblong- 

 ovate, taper-pointed, distinctly and 

 often coarsely toothed; petioles and 

 midrib ciliate with soft silky hairs 

 when young, soon almost naked. The 

 very straight veins run into the teeth. 

 Prickles of the fruit mostly recurved 

 or spreading. Large tree, 60 to 100 ft. 

 high, with grayish-white, very smooth 

 bark, and firm, light-colored, close- 

 grained wood. Wild throughout, and 

 frequently cultivated. 



2. Fagus sylvtica, L. (EURO- 

 PEAN BEECH.) Leaves often similar to 

 those of the American Beech, but usu- 

 ally shorter and broader; the border, 

 often nearly entire, is wavy in some 

 varieties, and in others deeply pin- 

 natifid. The bark in most varieties is 

 darker than in the American. This 

 Beech, with its numerous varieties, is 

 the one usually cultivated. Among the 

 most useful varieties are atropurpurea 

 (Purple Beech), with the darkest foli- 

 age of any deciduous tree, and almost 

 entire-margined leaves ; laciniata (Cut- 

 leaved Beech), with very deeply cut leaves ; and argentea variegata 

 (Silver Variegated Beech), having in the spring quite distinctly va- 

 riegated leaves. 



F. sylvatlca. 



ORDER XL. SALICACEJE. (WILLOW FAMILY.) 



A small order of soft-wooded trees and shrubs, abun- 

 dantly distributed in the northern temperate and frigid 

 zones. 



GENUS 91. SALIX. 



Soft-wooded trees or shrubs growing in damp places, 

 with alternate, usually quite elongated, pointed, deciduous 



