THE CHESTNUT. 



11 



separated them, considering the genera sufficiently 

 distinguished by the former having the barren 

 flowers on long spikes, and producing farinaceous 

 nuts ; the latter, by having its barren flowers in 

 globular heads, and by bearing oily nuts — cha- 

 racters strong enough to mark different genera. 

 It is well distinguished by its large, sharply ser- 

 rated leaves, which are smooth and glossy, by 

 its long tendriUike spikes of flowers in July 

 and in autumn by its bunches of nuts enclosed 

 in cases thickly beset with complicated sharp 

 prickles. Sir James E. Smith describes it as a 

 stately and majestic tree, rivalling, if not exceed- 

 ing the British Oak in size and duration. The 

 bark is remarkable for its deep and wide clefts, 

 which seem to have furnished ideas for some 

 ornaments in Gothic Architecture. Gilpin, who 

 also compares it to the Oak, says that its ramifica- 

 tion is more straggling but easy, and its foliage 

 loose. This is the tree which graces the land- 

 scapes of Salvator Rosa. In the mountains of 

 Calabria, where Salvator painted, the Chestnut 

 flourished. There he studied it in all its forms, 

 breaking and disposing it in a thousand beautiful 

 shapes, as the exigences of his composition re- 

 quired. We find it indeed nearly always forming 

 a prominent feature in his bold and rugged land- 

 scapes, many of his most striking scenes being 

 drawn from the wild haunts and natural fastnesses 

 of that romantic country, wherein he passed so 

 many of his youthful days. Gilpin supposes that 

 this great painter's fondness for the Chestnut is 

 owing to its liability to be shattered by storms. 

 Bosc is of opinion, that as an ornamental tree it 

 ought to be placed before the Oak. Its beautiful 



