20 
DWARF CHESTNUT. 
serted only to complete the history of the genus. It 
rarely exceeds a foot in height, growing in small 
patches, with creeping roots. I first met with the 
variety (3 in the vicinity of Charleston, South Carolina, 
afterwards the smoother kind, much more abundant, and 
in flower in the month of March, around Tallahassee, in 
West Florida. 
The Floridian plant is scarcely a foot in height, with 
smooth purplish-grey branchlets; the leaves obovate, on 
very short petioles, deeply serrate, obtuse or acute, 
elliptic-obovate, when young whitish pubescent; the 
adult almost perfectly smooth on both surfaces; about 
3 inches long by 1 inch or more wide. Stipules subulate, 
rather persistent. Male aments solitary, long, and fili- 
form, tomentose. The fruit I have not seen. 
The Charleston plant grows in sandy pine barrens, 
and the nut, which is solitary, is said by Elliott to be 
much larger, but less abundant than in the other native 
species. This plant rarely exceeds 2 feet in height. 
Its leaves are glossy above, pubescent but not tomen- 
tose beneath. Fertile flowers 1 to 3 in an involucrum, 
only one perfected. 
The wood of the Chinquepin, ( C . pumila,') whenever 
it can be obtained large enough for posts, is much 
valued, as it is supposed to be more durable when 
exposed to the weather than any other timber, except 
the Red Cedar. {Elliott.) 
Plate VI. 
A branch of the natural size. 
