Myrica.] LXXIII. AMENTACEjE. 403 



Catkin-scales entire. Stamens 2, rarely 3 to 5, with 1 or 2 gland- 

 like inner scales 8. Salix. 



Catkin-scales jagged. Stamens several, in an oblique, cup- 

 shaped perianth 9. Populus. 



Flowers monoecious. 

 Male catkins slender and interrupted. Female flowers in small, 



sessile or shortly-stalked clusters 7. Quercus. 



Male catkins globular, on pendulous stalks. Females erect, 



globular, softly hairy 6. Fagus. 



Tree or shrub, in fruit. 

 Capsules (in catkins) opening in 2 valves. Seeds minute, with a 

 tuft of long, cottony hairs. 

 Scales of the catkin entire. Leaves on short or rather stiff stalks . 8. Salix. 

 Scales of the catkin jagged. Leaves on long stalks, very broad, 



shaking with the wind . 9. Populus. 



Nuts 1-seeded. 

 Nuts small, in compact catkins. 

 Nuts slightly succulent, and resinous outside .... 1. Myrica. 

 Nuts flat and quite dry. 

 Scales of the catkins thin and deciduous. Nuts winged . . 3. Betula. 

 Scales of the catkins hard, remaining after the nuts have 



fallen 2. Alnus. 



Nuts solitary, or in clusters, or in loose spikes, wholly or partially 

 enclosed in an involucre. 

 Nuts small, in loose spikes, each in a 3-lobed, leafy involucre . 4. Carpinus. 

 Nuts solitary or clustered, each in an involucre adhering to it at 



the base, with leafy, jagged lobes 5. Corylus. 



Nuts (acorns) projecting from a short, cup-shaped involucre . 7. Quercus. 

 Nuts completely enclosed in a prickly involucre . . .6. Fagus. 



These nine genera are distributed by modern botanists into four tribes 

 or orders: Myeicace^:, limited to Myrica; Betulace^i, including 

 Alnus and Betula; CuPULiFEEiE, comprising Carpinus, Corylus, Fagus, 

 and Quercus ; and Salicine^:, for Salix and Populus. 



Among trees generally planted in Britain, belonging to exotic genera 

 of Amentacece or their allies, are the Spanish Chestnut (Castanea), with 

 the flowers nearly of an Oak, but the nuts completely enclosed in a 

 prickly involucre, as in Fagus; the Planes (Plantanus), with both male 

 and female catkins globular and pendulous, the flowers intermixed 

 with bristly hairs, and differing slightly from the family in their 

 albuminous seeds ; and two or three species of Walnut (Juglans), 

 which in their pinnated leaves and more perfect perianth show an 

 approach to Terebinthacece. [Of the above the Chestnut seeds and 

 reproduces itself freely in parts of Surrey and elsewhere, and may 

 fairly claim the position of a naturalised plant.] 



I. MYRICA. GALE. 



Shrubs, with resinous, dotted leaves. Flowers dioecious, in short, 

 sessile catkins ; the scales imbricated, without inner scales. Male 

 catkins with 4 or 8 stamens within each scale, the anthers nearly 

 sessile, and no perianth. Females with 2 ovaries within each scale ; 

 perianth adhering to the base of the ovary, with two lateral, projecting 

 lobes. Stigmas 2, linear. Fruit a small, resinous or nearly drupe-like, 

 globular nut, with 1 erect seed. 



A genus of several species, dispersed over the temperate regions of 

 the globe, or the mountainous parts of the tropics. Associated with 

 two or three small North American or South African genera, it forms 

 a distinct tribe, approaching Hippophae in the 2-lobed female perianth 

 and almost drupe-like nut. 



