OSTRYA. 



CUPULIFER^. 



185 



1. Ostrya Virginica, Willd. (Plate CII.) Hop Hornbeam. Iron-wood. 



Leaves oblong -ovate, acuminate ; buds acute ; strobiles oblong -ovoid. — Willd. sp. 4. 

 p. 469 ; Pursh,fl. 2. p. 623 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 618 ; Bigel.ft. Bost. p. 358 ; Beck, hot. p. 327 ; 

 Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 541. Carpinus Ostrya- Americana, Michx. Jl. 2. p. 202. C. Ostrya, 

 Michx. f. sylv. 2. t. 109. 



A tree 20 - 30 feet high and 4-8 inches in diameter, with a brownish bark, which is 

 slightly furrowed with narrow divisions. Leaves about three inches long, somewhat cordate, 

 sharply and unequally serrate, smoothish above, pubescent on the veins underneath : petioles 

 hairy, 3-4 lines long. Flowers in terminal aments, appearing before the leaves ; the barren 

 ones 1-2 inches long, with the scales entire and conspicuously fringed : anthers bearded at 

 the tip. Fertile aments solitary ; the flowers in pairs, with a caducous cordate or lanceolate 

 bract at the base of each pair. Involucres utriculate, oblong-lanceolate, hoary-pubescent, 

 the base clothed with rigid hairs, bladder-like in fruit ; the numerous involucres forming an 

 ovoid or oblong strobile, which is usually pendulous, but sometimes extended, never erect. 

 Nut about one-fourth of an inch long, acute, ribbed at the summit and on each edge. 



Woods, commonly in shady fertile soils on the banks of rivers. Fl. April - May. Fr. 

 August - September. The wood of this tree is white, very compact, and of great strength. 

 It is often used for levers, and is hence called Lever-wood in some places. Owing to its small 

 size, and its not occurring in large quantities, the tree is not very important. The older botanists 

 confounded this species with the European O. vulgaris, which indeed it much resembles. 



2. CARPINUS. Linn.; Endl. gen. 1843. HORNBEAM. 



[ From the Celtic words car, wood, and pin, the head ; because the wood is fit for the yokes of cattle.] 



Stekile fl. Aments cylindrical; the calyx- scales ovate, acute, without bracts. Stamens 

 about 12: filaments simple : anthers ovate. Fertile fl. Aments loose, terminal. Bracts 

 ovate, hairy, deciduous. Involucral scales in pairs ; each pair 2-flowered, unequally 

 3-lobed, at length large and foliaceous. Limb of the calyx small, 6-toothed. Style very 

 short : stigmas 2, filiform. Nut bony, ovoid, acute, ribbed. — Trees, with ovate serrate 

 stipulate leaves. 



1. Carpinus Americana, Michx. (Plate CIII.) Hornbeam. Water Beech. 



Leaves oblong-ovate; scales of the pistillate ament 3-lobed, the middle lobe much the 

 largest, unequally serrate-toothed on one side. — Michx. jl. 2. p. 210 ; Willd. sp. 4. p. 468 ; 

 Michx. f. sylv. 2 t. 108 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 623 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 218 ; Bigel. Jl. Bost. 

 p. 357 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 618 ; Beck, hot. p. 326 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 541. 



A tree from 15 to 20 feet high, and the trunk seldom more than 6 inches in diameter ; the 

 bark smooth and light gray. Leaves about three inches long, acuminate, often cordate at the 

 [Flora — Vol. 2.] 24 



