278 



NOTES FROM A GARDE A HERBARIl M. 



smooth leaves. But all the cultivated sorts have con- 

 spicuously pubescent leaves, beneath, even at full matur- 

 ity. Can this be an effect of cultivation ? 



Fig. 2. European and American Chestnut leaves. 



Yz SIZE. 



For horticultural purposes, then, the chestnuts may be 

 distinguished as follows : 



Castanea sativa, Miller (C. vulgaris. Lam ; C. vesca, 

 Willd. ). Tree branching low, forming a round head; 

 leaves thick in texture, elliptic-oblong, abruptly tapering 

 or even heart-shaped at the base, more or less abruptly 

 contracted above, the teeth small and close. 



Var. Americana, Watson (C. vulgaris var. Ameri- 

 cana, De C. ; C. vesca var. Americana, Michx.). Tree 

 more upright, usually forming a narrow head ; leaves 

 thinner, very bright green, oblong-lanceolate, acute be- 

 low and conspicuously tapering above, the teeth large and 

 spreading with deep rounded sinuses between them. 



The Japanese chestnut (Fig. i) isa variable plant. As 



seen in this country, it is usually a small tree with a very 

 distinct foliage. The leaves are small, thick and leathery, 

 oblong-lanceolate, very canescent beneath, truncate or 

 heart-shaped at the base, with very small and spiny 

 teeth. The sides of the leaves are nearly straight and 

 parallel for half or more their length, or sometimes the 

 leaf is widest at the base and tapers gradually to the apex. 

 All the nuts which I have seen are smooth, or very 

 nearly so, at the apex, and Professor Georgeson's 

 figure (Fig. 2, page 266), made in Japan, is the same. 



I am not sure that all the Japanese chestnuts in this 

 country belong to the same botanical variety, although 

 all my specimens, from various sources, are the same as 

 that shown in Fig. i. Professor Georgeson's remark 

 (page 266) about the large size of tree and leaf of the 

 Tamba-kuri indicates that the best varieties of Japan may 

 be different from the commonly imported trees. I have 

 never seen very large nuts from trees grown in this coun- 

 try. Mr. Moon asserts (before Nurserymen's Associa- 

 tion) that all the American grown Japanese chestnuts 

 which he has seen are "quite medium in size," and he 

 fears "that many who plant them with the expectation 

 of gathering such giant nuts as those imported from Japan 

 will be disappointed." At all events, it is to be regretted 

 that our nurserymen are lumping the oriental fruit off 

 as "Japanese chestnut." This means nothing except 

 that the plants chance to be Japanese in origin, and va- 

 rieties of widely differing merit may be sold as one. 'We 

 should not expect to sell the old world fruit as simply 

 the " European chestnut. " A rigid investigation should 

 be made into the varieties of Japanese chestnut, and the 

 common and inferior stock upon the market should be 

 destroyed. The best named varieties or types should be 

 imported. One of the largest and best nurseries in the 

 country has sold in good faith the common chinquapin 

 [Cas/anea pumila') as Japanese chestnut. 



The botany of the Japanese chestnut is confused. I 

 have used Blume's name, Castanea Japonica, for it. 

 But De Candolle considers all the Japanese forms as 

 varieties of the common European species. In fact, he 

 refers Blume's C. Japonica to C. sativa itself, and then 

 designates four Japanese varieties : var. elongata, var. 

 Japonica, var. siihdentata and var. Kitsaktcri. If this 

 classification is followed, the plant which I have describ- 

 ed (Fig. 2) should be called C. sativa, var. elongata (C. 

 vulgaris y^x . elongata, De C). The variety Japonica of 

 De Candolle's classification has small leaves and the 

 petioles are shorter than in var. elongata. To this va- 

 riety he refers Castanae Chinensis and C. crenata of au- 

 thors. The var. suhdentata has small-toothed and short- 

 petioled leaves. Var. Kiisakuri is probably an artificial 

 state, characterized by a contracted habit of growth and 

 very small and short-stalked leaves. It seems scarcely 

 possible that our Japanese chestnut is a form of the Eu- 

 ropean species, although a more complete study of the 

 subject than anyone has yet made will be required to de- 

 termine its specific limits. It is enough for the present 

 purpose if I have drawn some distinguishing marks of use 

 to horticulturists. L. H. Bailey. 



