Chapter M: ALBA, L. (WHITE MULBERRY.) Leaves obliquely heart-ovate, (1)

acute, serrate, sometimes lobed, _smooth and shining; fruit whitish_.--Spontaneous near houses. (Adv. from Eu.)

8. URTICA, Tourn. NETTLE.

Flowers monoecious, or rarely dioecious, clustered, the clusters mostly in racemes, spikes, or loose heads. _Ster. Fl._ Sepals 4. Stamens 4, inserted around the cup-shaped rudiment of a pistil. _Fert. Fl._ Sepals 4, in pairs; the 2 outer smaller and spreading; the 2 inner flat or concave, in fruit membranaceous and enclosing the straight and erect ovate flattened achene. Stigma sessile, capitate and pencil-tufted.--Herbs, armed with stinging hairs. Leaves opposite; stipules in our species distinct. Flowers greenish; in summer. (The classical Latin name; from _uro_, to burn.)

[*] _Perennials; flower-clusters in branching panicled spikes, often dioecious._

1. U. gracilis, Ait. _Sparingly bristly_, slender (2--6 deg. high); _leaves ovate-lanceolate_, pointed, serrate, 3--5-nerved from the rounded or scarcely heart-shaped base, _almost glabrous, the elongated slender petioles sparingly bristly_; spikes slender and loosely panicled.--Fence-rows and moist ground, common. Stings few.

U. DIOICA, L. _Very bristly and stinging_ (2--3 deg. high); _leaves ovate, heart-shaped_, pointed, _very deeply serrate, downy beneath_ as well as the upper part of the stem; _spikes much branched_.--Waste places and roadsides, rather rare. Canada and N. Eng. to S. C., west to Minn. and Mo. (Nat. from Eu.)

[*][*] _Annuals; flower-clusters chiefly axillary and shorter than the petiole, androgynous._

U. URENS, L. _Leaves elliptical or ovate_, very coarsely and deeply serrate with long spreading teeth, the terminal teeth not longer than the lateral ones; _flower-clusters 2 in each axil, small and loose_.--Waste grounds, near dwellings, eastward; scarce. Plant 8--12' high, with sparse stings. (Nat. from Eu.)

2. U. chamaedryoides, Pursh. _Leaves ovate and mostly heart-shaped_, the upper ovate-lanceolate, coarsely serrate-toothed; _flower-clusters globular_, 1--2 in each axil, and spiked at the summit.--Alluvial shaded soil, from Ky. to the Gulf States. Slender, 6--30' high, sparsely beset with stings.

9. LAPORTEA, Gaudichaud. WOOD-NETTLE.

Flowers monoecious or dioecious, clustered, in loose cymes; the upper widely spreading and chiefly or entirely fertile; the lower mostly sterile. _Ster. Fl._ Sepals and stamens 5, with a rudiment of an ovary. _Fert. Fl._ Calyx of 4 sepals, the two outer or one of them usually minute, and the two inner much larger. Stigma elongated awl-shaped, hairy down one side, persistent. Achene ovate, flat, extremely oblique, reflexed on the winged or margined pedicel, nearly naked.--Perennial herbs, with stinging hairs, large alternate serrate leaves, and axillary stipules. (Named for _M. Laporte_.)

1. L. Canadensis, Gaudichaud. Stem 2--3 deg. high; leaves ovate, pointed, strongly feather-veined (3--7' long), long-petioled; fertile cymes divergent; stipule single, 2-cleft.--Moist rich woods. July--Sept.

10. PILEA, Lindl. RICHWEED. CLEARWEED.

Flowers monoecious or dioecious. _Ster. Fl._ Sepals and stamens 3--4. _Fert. Fl._ Sepals 3, oblong, more or less unequal; a rudiment of a stamen commonly before each in the form of a hooded scale. Stigma sessile, pencil-tufted. Achene ovate, compressed, erect, partly or nearly naked.--Stingless, mostly glabrous and low herbs, with opposite leaves and united stipules; the staminate flowers often mixed with the fertile. (Named from the shape of the larger sepal of the fertile flower in the original species, which partly covers the achene, like the _pileus_, or felt cap, of the Romans.)

1. P. pumila, Gray. (RICHWEED. CLEARWEED.) Low (3--18' high); stems smooth and shining, pellucid; leaves ovate, coarsely toothed, pointed, 3-ribbed and veiny; flower-clusters much shorter than the petioles; sepals of the fertile flowers lanceolate, scarcely unequal.--Cool and moist shaded places. July--Sept.

11. BOEHMERIA, Jacq. FALSE NETTLE.

Flowers monoecious or dioecious, clustered; the sterile much as in Urtica; the fertile with a tubular or urn-shaped entire or 2--4-toothed calyx enclosing the ovary. Style elongated awl-shaped, stigmatic and papillose down one side. Achene elliptical, closely invested by the dry and persistent compressed calyx.--No stings. (Named after _G. R. Boehmer_, Professor at Wittenberg in the last century.)

1. B. cylindrica, Willd. Perennial, smoothish or pubescent and more or less scabrous; stem (1--3 deg. high) simple; leaves chiefly opposite (rarely all alternate), ovate to ovate- or oblong-lanceolate, pointed, serrate, 3-nerved; stipules distinct; petioles short or elongated; flowers dioecious, or the two kinds intermixed, the small clusters densely aggregated in simple and elongated axillary spikes, the sterile interrupted, the fertile often continuous, frequently leaf-bearing at the apex.--Moist or shady ground, common. Very variable.

12. PARIETARIA, Tourn. PELLITORY.

Flowers monoeciously polygamous; the staminate, pistillate, and perfect intermixed in the same involucrate-bracted cymose axillary clusters; the sterile much as in the last; the fertile with a tubular or bell-shaped 4-lobed and nerved calyx, enclosing the ovary and the ovoid achene. Style slender or none; stigma pencil-tufted.--Homely, diffuse or tufted herbs, not stinging, with alternate entire 3-ribbed leaves, and no stipules. (The ancient Latin name, because growing on old walls.)

1. P. Pennsylvanica, Muhl. Low, annual, simple or sparingly branched, minutely downy; leaves oblong-lanceolate, thin, veiny, roughish with opaque dots; flowers shorter than the involucre; stigma sessile.--Shaded rocky banks, E. Mass. and Vt. to Minn., and southward. June--Aug.

ORDER 100. PLATANACEAE. (PLANE-TREE FAMILY.)

_Trees, with watery juice, alternate palmately-lobed leaves, sheathing stipules, and monoecious flowers in separate and naked spherical heads, destitute of calyx or corolla; the fruit merely club-shaped 1-seeded nutlets, furnished with a ring of bristly hairs about the base_; consists only of the following genus (of uncertain relationship).

1. PLATANUS, L. SYCAMORE. BUTTONWOOD.

Sterile flowers of numerous stamens, with club-shaped little scales intermixed, filaments very short. Fertile flowers in separate catkins, consisting of inversely pyramidal ovaries mixed with little scales. Style rather lateral, awl-shaped or thread-like, simple. Nutlets coriaceous, small, tawny-hairy below, containing a single orthotropous pendulous seed. Embryo in the axis of thin albumen.--Large trees, with the bark deciduous in broad thin brittle plates; dilated base of the petiole enclosing the bud of the next season. (The ancient name, from [Greek: platy/s], _broad_.)

1. P. occidentalis, L. Leaves mostly truncate at base, angularly sinuate-lobed or toothed, the short lobes sharp-pointed; fertile heads solitary, hanging on a long peduncle.--Alluvial banks, S. Maine to N. Vt., Ont., S. E. Minn., E. Kan., and southward. Our largest tree, often 90--130 deg. high, with a trunk 6--14 deg. in diameter.

ORDER 101. JUGLANDACEAE. (WALNUT FAMILY.)

_Trees, with alternate pinnate leaves, and no stipules; flowers monoecious, the sterile in catkins (aments) with an irregular calyx adnate to the bract; the fertile solitary or in a small cluster or spike, with a regular 3--5-lobed calyx adherent to the incompletely 2--4-celled but only 1-ovuled ovary. Fruit a kind of dry drupe, with a crustaceous or bony nut-shell, containing a large 4-lobed orthotropous seed._ Albumen none. Cotyledons fleshy and oily, sinuous or corrugated, 2-lobed; radicle short, superior. Petals sometimes present in the fertile flowers.--A small family of important trees, consisting chiefly of the two following genera.

1. JUGLANS, L. WALNUT.

Sterile flowers in long and simple lateral catkins from the wood of the preceding year; the calyx adherent to the entire bracts or scales, unequally 3--6-cleft. Stamens 12--40; filaments free, very short. Fertile flowers solitary or several together on a peduncle at the end of the branches, with a 4-toothed calyx, bearing 4 small petals at the sinuses. Styles 2, very short; stigmas 2, somewhat club-shaped and fringed. Fruit with a fibrous-fleshy indehiscent epicarp, and a mostly rough irregularly furrowed endocarp or nut-shell.--Trees, with strong-scented or resinous-aromatic bark, few-scaled or almost naked buds (3 or 4 superposed, and the uppermost far above the axil), odd-pinnate leaves of many serrate leaflets, and the embryo sweet and edible. Pith in plates. (Name contracted from _Jovis glans_, the nut of Jupiter.)

1. J. cinerea, L. (BUTTERNUT. WHITE WALNUT.) Leaflets 5--8 pairs, oblong-lanceolate, pointed, rounded at base, downy, especially beneath, the _petioles and branchlets downy with clammy hairs; fruit oblong, clammy_, pointed, the nut deeply sculptured and rough with ragged ridges, 2-celled at the base.--Rich woods, N. Eng. to the mountains of Ga., west to Minn., E. Kan., and Ark. Tree 50--75 deg. high, with gray bark, widely spreading branches, and lighter brown wood than in the next.

2. J. nigra, L. (BLACK WALNUT.) Leaflets 7--11 pairs, ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed, somewhat heart-shaped or unequal at base, smooth above, the lower surface and the _petioles minutely downy; fruit spherical_, roughly dotted, the nut corrugated, 4-celled at top and bottom.--Rich woods, W. Mass. and Conn. to Fla., west to Minn., E. Neb., E. Kan., and southward. A large and handsome tree (often 90--150 deg. high), with rough brown bark, and valuable purplish-brown wood turning blackish with age.

2. CARYA, Nutt. HICKORY.

Sterile flowers in slender lateral and clustered catkins; calyx naked, adherent to the bract, unequally 2--3-parted. Stamens 3--10; filaments short or none, free. Fertile flowers 2--5 in a cluster or short spike, on a peduncle terminating the shoot of the season; calyx 4-toothed; petals none. Stigmas sessile, 2 or 4, large, papillose, persistent. Fruit with a 4-valved, firm and at length dry exocarp (involucre), falling away from the smooth and crustaceous or bony endocarp or nut-shell, which is incompletely 2-celled, and at the base mostly 4-celled.--Fine timber-trees, with hard and very tough wood, and scaly buds, from which in spring are put forth usually both kinds of flowers, the sterile below and the fertile above the leaves. Nuts ripen and fall in October. ([Greek: Kary/a], an ancient name of the Walnut.)

Sec. 1. _Sterile catkins fascicled (no common peduncle or sometimes a very short one) from separate lateral scaly buds near the summit of shoots of the preceding year; bud-scales few; fruit elongated-oblong; the thin-shelled nut 2-celled below; seed sweet; leaflets short-stalked, numerous._

1. C. olivaeformis, Nutt. (PECAN-NUT.) Minutely downy, becoming nearly smooth; leaflets 13--15, oblong-lanceolate, tapering gradually to a slender point, falcate, serrate; nut olive-shaped.--River bottoms, S. Ind., S. Ill., and Iowa, to La. and Tex. A large tree (90--160 deg. high), with delicious nuts.

Sec. 2. _Sterile catkins in threes (rarely more) on a common peduncle from the axil of the inner scales of the common bud, therefore at the base of the shoot of the season, which, then bearing 3 or 4 leaves, is terminated by the fertile flowers; fruit globular or oval; nut 4-celled at base; leaflets sessile or nearly so._

[*] _Bud-scales numerous, about 10, successively enwrapping, the inner ones accrescent, becoming thin and membranaceous and rather tardily deciduous; husk of the fruit splitting promptly into 4 more or less thick and when dry hard or woody valves; seed sweet and delicious._ (The _hickory nuts_ of the market.)

2. C. alba, Nutt. (SHELL-BARK or SHAG-BARK HICKORY.) Bark of trunk shaggy, exfoliating in rough strips or plates; inner bud-scales becoming large and conspicuous, persistent till the flowers are fully developed; _leaflets 5--7_, when young minutely downy beneath, finely serrate, the three upper obovate-lanceolate, the _lower pair much smaller_ and oblong-lanceolate, all taper-pointed; fruit globular or depressed; _nut white_, flattish-globular, barely mucronate, the shell thinnish.--N. Eng. to N. shore of L. Erie and S. E. Minn., south to Fla., E. Kan., and Tex. Large and handsome tree (70--90 deg. high, or more), of great economic value. The principal hickory-nut of the markets.

3. C. sulcata, Nutt. (BIG SHELL-BARK. KING-NUT.) Bark, etc., as in n. 1; _leaflets 7--9_, more downy beneath; _fruit oval or ovate_, 4-ribbed above the middle, the husk very thick; _nut large_ (11/4--2' long) and usually angular, _dull white or yellowish, thick-walled, usually strongly pointed at both ends_.--Central N. Y. and Penn. to S. Ind., E. Kan., and Ind. Terr. Tree 70--90 deg. high, or more, in rich soil of bottom lands.

4. C. tomentosa, Nutt. (MOCKER-NUT. WHITE-HEART HICKORY.) _Bark close_, rough, but not shaggy and exfoliating on old trunks; catkins, shoots, and lower surface of the leaves _tomentose_ when young, resinous scented; _leaflets_ 7--9, lance-obovate or the lower oblong-lanceolate, pointed; _fruit globular or ovoid_, with a very thick and hard husk; _nut globular, not compressed, 4-ridged toward the slightly pointed summit, brownish_, very thick-shelled, 1' in diameter or smaller.--N. Eng. to N. shore of L. Erie, E. Neb., and south to the Gulf. Tree 70--100 deg. high, usually on rich upland hillsides.

5. C. microcarpa, Nutt. With rough close bark, small ovate buds, and the glabrous foliage, etc., of n. 6; fruit small, subglobose, with rather thin husk; nut thin-shelled, not angled.--N. Y. to Del., west to Mich. and Ill.

[*][*] _Bud-scales numerous or few; husk of the fruit thin and rather friable at maturity, 4-valved only to the middle or tardily to near the base; seed more or less bitter; bark of old trunk not exfoliating._

6. C. porcina, Nutt. (PIG-NUT or BROOM H.) Bud-scales nearly as in n. 4, but smaller, caducous; shoots, catkins, and leaves _glabrous_ or nearly so; _leaflets_ 5--7, oblong- or obovate-lanceolate and taper-pointed, serrate; fruit pear-shaped, oblong, or oval; _nut oblong or oval_ (11/2--2' long), with a _thick bony shell_; the oily seed at first sweet in taste, then bitterish.--S. Maine to Fla., west to Minn., E. Neb., and Tex. Tree 70--90 deg. high (rarely 120 deg.), on dry hills and uplands.

7. C. amara, Nutt. (BITTER-NUT or SWAMP H.) Scales of the small yellowish buds about 6, valvate in pairs, caducous in leafing; catkins and young herbage more or less pubescent, soon becoming almost glabrous; _leaflets_ 7--11, _lanceolate_ or oblong-lanceolate; fruit globular, narrowly 6-ridged; _nut globular, short-pointed_, white (barely 1' long), _thin-walled_; seed at first sweet-tasted, soon extremely bitter.--Moist soil, N. Eng. to Fla., west to Minn., E. Neb., and Tex. Tree 50--75 deg. high; husk and nut-shell thinner and less hard than in other species.

ORDER 102. MYRICACEAE. (SWEET-GALE FAMILY.)

_Monoecious or dioecious shrubs, with both kinds of flowers in short scaly catkins, and resinous-dotted often fragrant leaves_,--differing from the Birches chiefly in the 1-celled ovary with a single erect orthotropous ovule, and the drupe-like nut. Involucre and perianth none.

1. MYRICA, L. BAYBERRY. WAX-MYRTLE.

The only genus.--Flowers solitary under a scale-like bract and with a pair of bractlets, the sterile in oblong or cylindrical, the fertile in ovoid or globular catkins, from axillary scaly buds; stamens 2--8; filaments somewhat united below; anthers 2-celled. Ovary with 2--8 scales at its base, and 2 thread-like stigmas. Fruit a small globular or oblong nut, or dry drupe, coated with resinous grains or wax. ([Greek: Myri/ke], the ancient name of the Tamarisk or some other shrub; perhaps from [Greek: myri/zo], _to perfume_.)

[*] _Mostly dioecious; fertile catkins ovoid; ovary with 2--4 scales at base; nut globular; leaves entire or somewhat serrate._

1. M. Gale, L. (SWEET GALE.) Shrub 3--5 deg. high; _leaves wedge-lanceolate_, serrate toward the apex, _pale, later than the flowers; sterile catkins closely clustered_; nuts in imbricated heads, 2-winged by the two thick ovate scales which coalesce with its base.--Wet borders of ponds, Newf. to N. Eng. and along the Great Lakes to Minn., south in the mountains to Va.

2. M. cerifera, L. (BAYBERRY. WAX-MYRTLE.) _Leaves oblong-lanceolate_, narrowed at the base, entire or wavy-toothed toward the apex, _shining and resinous-dotted both sides, somewhat preceding the flowers, fragrant; sterile catkins scattered_, oblong; scales wedge-shaped at the base; nuts scattered and naked, bony, and incrusted with white wax.--Sandy soil near the coast, from Nova Scotia to Fla. and Ala.; also on L. Erie. Shrub 3--8 deg. high, but sometimes a tree 35 deg. high; fruit sometimes persistent for 2 or 3 years.

[*][*] _Frequently monoecious; fertile catkins globular; ovary surrounded by 8 long linear-awl-shaped persistent scales; nut ovoid-oblong; leaves pinnatifid with many rounded lobes._

3. M. asplenifolia, Endl. Shrub 1--2 deg. high, with sweet scented fern-like linear-lanceolate leaves; stipules half heart-shaped; scales of the sterile catkins kidney-heart-shaped, pointed. (Comptonia asplenifolia, _Ait._)--Sterile hills, N. Eng. to N. C., west to Minn. and Ind.

ORDER 103. CUPULIFERAE. (OAK FAMILY.)

_Monoecious trees or shrubs, with alternate simple straight-veined leaves, deciduous stipules, the sterile flowers in catkins (or capitate-clustered in the_ Beech), _the fertile solitary, clustered, spiked, or in scaly catkins, the 1-celled and 1-seeded nut with or without an involucre._ Ovary more or less 2--7-celled, with 1 or 2 pendulous anatropous ovules in each cell; but all the cells and ovules except one disappearing in the fruit. Seed with no albumen, filled with the embryo.

Tribe I. BETULEAE. Flowers in scaly catkins, 2 or 3 to each bract. Sterile catkins pendulous. Stamens 2--4, and calyx usually 2--4-parted. Fertile flowers with no calyx, and no involucre to the compressed and often winged small nut. Ovary 2-celled, 2-ovuled.

1. Betula. Stamens 2, bifid. Fertile scales thin, 3-lobed, deciduous with the nuts.

2. Alnus. Stamens 4. Fertile scales thick, entire, persisting after the nuts have fallen.

Tribe II. CORYLEAE. Sterile catkins pendulous, with no calyx; stamens 3 or more to each bract and more or less adnate to it, the filaments often forked (anthers 1-celled). Fertile flowers in a short ament or head, 2 to each bract, and each with one or more bractlets which form a foliaceous involucre to the nut. Ovary 2-celled, 2-ovuled.

[*] Bract of staminate flower furnished with a pair of bractlets inside; fertile flowers few.

3. Corylus. Involucre leafy-coriaceous, enclosing the large bony nut.

[*][*] Bract of staminate flower simple; fertile flowers in short catkins; nut small, achene-like.

4. Ostrya. Each ovary and nut included in a bladdery and closed bag.

5. Carpinus. Each nut subtended by an enlarged leafy bractlet.

Tribe III. QUERCINEAE. Sterile flowers with 4--7-lobed calyx and stamens indefinite (3--20). Fertile flowers 1 or few, enclosed in a cupule consisting of consolidated bracts, which becomes indurated (scaly or prickly) and surrounds or encloses the nut.

[*] Sterile flowers in slender catkins.

6. Quercus. Cupule 1-flowered, scaly and entire; nut hard and terete.

7. Castanea. Cupule 2--4-flowered, forming a prickly hard bur, 2--4-valved when ripe.

[*][*] Sterile flowers in a small head.

8. Fagus. Cupule 2-flowered, 4-valved, containing 2 sharply triangular nuts.

1. BETULA, Tourn. BIRCH.

Sterile flowers 3, and bractlets 2, to each shield-shaped scale or bract of the catkins, consisting each of a calyx of one scale bearing 4 short filaments with 1-celled anthers (or strictly of two 2-parted filaments, each division bearing an anther-cell). Fertile flowers 2 or 3 to each 3-lobed bract, without bractlets or calyx, each of a naked ovary, becoming a broadly winged and scale-like nutlet (or small samara) crowned with the two spreading stigmas.--Outer bark usually separable in sheets, that of the branchlets dotted. Twigs and leaves often spicy-aromatic. Foliage mostly thin and light. Buds sessile, scaly. Sterile catkins long and drooping, terminal and lateral, sessile, formed in summer, remaining naked through the succeeding winter, and expanding their golden flowers in early spring, with or preceding the leaves; fertile catkins oblong or cylindrical, peduncled, usually terminating very short 2-leaved early lateral branches of the season. (The ancient Latin name, of Celtic origin.)

[*] _Trees, with brown or yellow-gray bark, sweet-aromatic as well as the twigs, membranaceous and straight-veined Hornbeam-like leaves heart-shaped or rounded at base, on short petioles, and sessile very thick fruiting catkins; their scales about equally 3-cleft, rather persistent; wing of fruit not broader than the seed-bearing body._

1. B. lenta, L. (CHERRY B. SWEET or BLACK BIRCH.) _Bark_ of trunk _dark brown, close_ (outer layers scarcely laminate), very sweet-aromatic; leaves ovate or oblong-ovate from a more or less heart-shaped base, acuminate, sharply and finely doubly serrate all round, when mature shining or bright green above and glabrous except on the veins beneath; _fruiting catkins oblong-cylindrical_ (1--11/4' long), the scales with short and _divergent lobes_.--Rich woodlands, Newf. to N. Del., and south in the mountains, west to Minn., and S. Ind. Tree 50--75 deg. high, with reddish bronze-colored spray; wood rose-colored, fine-grained, valuable for cabinet-work.

2. B. lutea, Michx. f. (YELLOW or GRAY BIRCH.) _Bark_ of trunk _yellowish- or silvery-gray, detaching in very thin filmy layers_, within and the twigs much less aromatic; leaves (3--5' long) slightly or not at all heart-shaped and often narrowish toward the base, duller-green above and usually more downy on the veins beneath; fruiting catkins _oblong-ovoid_ (1' or less in length, 6--9'' thick), the thinner scales (5--6'' long) twice as large as in n. 1, and with narrower _barely spreading lobes_.--Rich moist woodlands, Canada and N. Eng. to Del., west to Minn.; also along high peaks to Tenn. and N. C. Often 60--90 deg. high at the north; wood whiter and less valuable.

[*][*] _Trees, with chalky-white bark separable in thin sheets, ovate or triangular leaves of firmer texture, on long slender petioles; fruiting catkins cylindrical, usually hanging on rather slender peduncles; their scales glabrous, with short diverging lobes, freely deciduous; wing of the fruit much broader than its body._

3. B. populifolia, Ait. (AMERICAN WHITE BIRCH. GRAY BIRCH.) Trunk usually ascending (15--30 deg. high); _leaves triangular_ (deltoid), _very taper-pointed_ (usually abruptly), truncate or nearly so at the broad base, _smooth and shining both sides_, except the resinous glands when young. (B. alba, var. populifolia, _Spach_.)--Poor sandy soils, N. Brunswick to Del., west to L. Ontario. Bark much less separable than the next; leaves on slender petioles, tremulous as those of the aspen.

4. B. papyrifera, Marshall. (PAPER or CANOE BIRCH. WHITE BIRCH.) _Leaves ovate, taper-pointed_, heart-shaped or abrupt (or rarely wedge-shaped) at base, _smooth and green above_, pale, glandular-dotted, and a little hairy on the veins beneath, sharply and unequally doubly serrate, 3--4 times the length of the petiole. (B. papyracea, _Ait._)--Rich woodlands and stream-banks, N. Eng. to N. Penn., N. Ill., and Minn., and far north and westward. Tree 50--75 deg. high, with bark freely splitting into paper-like layers.--Var. MINOR, Tuckerman, is a dwarf form of the alpine region of the White Mts.

[*][*][*] _Tree, with greenish-brown bark, somewhat laminate, and reddish twigs, ovate leaves whitish beneath, and soft-downy peduncled fruiting catkins._

5. B. nigra, L. (RIVER or RED BIRCH.) Leaves rhombic-ovate, acutish at both ends, irregularly doubly serrate, whitish and (until old) downy underneath; petioles and peduncle of nearly the same length (3--7'') and with the oblong catkin tomentose; the bracts with oblong linear nearly equal lobes; fruit broadly winged.--Banks of streams, Mass, to Fla., west to Minn., E. Kan., and Tex. Tree 50--75 deg. high, with light-colored wood and somewhat Alder-like leaves.

[*][*][*][*] _Shrubs, with brownish bark, rounded or wedge-shaped crenate and mostly small leaves of thickish or coriaceous texture, and oblong or cylindrical glabrous and mostly erect catkins, on short peduncles._

6. B. pumila, L. (LOW BIRCH.) Stems (2--8 deg. high) erect or ascending, _not glandular_; young branches and lower face of young leaves mostly _soft-downy; leaves_ obovate, roundish, or orbicular (6--16'' long), _pale beneath, veinlets on both faces finely reticulated_; wing of the fruit mostly narrower than the body.--Bogs, W. Conn, and N. J. to Ind. and Minn., and northward throughout Canada. Leaves usually not at all resiniferous or glandular-dotted.

7. B. glandulosa, Michx. (DWARF BIRCH.) Stems erect or mostly spreading (1--4 deg. high), or when alpine procumbent; _branchlets glabrous, conspicuously dotted with resinous wart-like glands_; leaves roundish wedge-obovate or sometimes orbicular (6--9'' long), green and glabrous both sides, less reticulated; fruiting catkins mostly shorter and oblong or oval; wing of the fruit narrower than or sometimes equalling the body.--High mountains of N. Eng. and N. Y., to L. Superior, and far northward.

2. ALNUS, Tourn. ALDER.

Sterile catkins elongated and drooping, with 4 or 5 bractlets and 3 (rarely 6) flowers upon each short-stalked shield-shaped scale; each flower usually with a 3--5-parted calyx and as many stamens; filaments short and simple; anthers 2-celled. Fertile catkins ovoid or oblong; the fleshy scales each 2--3-flowered, with a calyx of 4 little scales adherent to the scales or bracts of the catkin, which are thick and woody in fruit, wedge-obovate, truncate, or 3--5-lobed, and persistent.--Shrubs or small trees, with few-scaled leaf-buds, and solitary or often racemose-clustered catkins, terminating leafless branchlets or peduncles. (The ancient Latin name.)

Sec. 1. _Flowers developed in spring with the leaves; the sterile from catkins which have remained naked over winter; while the fertile have been enclosed in a scaly bud; fruit with a conspicuous thin wing, as in_ Birch.

1. A. viridis, DC. (GREEN or MOUNTAIN ALDER.) Shrub 3--8 deg. high; leaves round-oval, ovate, or slightly heart-shaped, glutinous and smooth or softly downy beneath, irregularly serrulate or biserrulate with very sharp and closely set teeth, sometimes sinuate-toothed and serrulate (var. SINUATA, Regel), on young shoots often cut-toothed; fertile catkins slender-stalked, clustered, ovoid (6--8'' long).--On mountains and mountain streams, Newf. to W. Mass., N. Y., L. Superior, and far north and west; also in the Alleghanies to N. C. (Eu., Asia.)

Sec. 2. _Flowers developed in earliest spring, before the leaves, from mostly clustered catkins which (of both sorts) were formed the foregoing summer and have remained naked over winter; fruit wingless or with a narrow coriaceous margin._

2. A. incana, Willd. (SPECKLED or HOARY A.) _Leaves broadly oval or ovate, rounded at base_, sharply and often doubly serrate, _whitened and mostly downy beneath_; stipules oblong-lanceolate; fruit orbicular.--Borders of streams and swamps, Newf. to Mass., E. Neb., Minn., and westward. Shrub or tree 8--20 deg. high; the common Alder northward. (Eu., Asia.)

3. A. serrulata, Willd. (SMOOTH A.) _Leaves obovate, acute at base_, sharply serrate with minute teeth, thickish, _green both sides_, smooth or often downy beneath; stipules oval; fruit ovate.--Borders of streams and swamps, Mass. to Fla., west to S. E. Minn. and Tex.; common. Shrub forming dense thickets, or sometimes at the south a small tree 6--35 deg. high.

Sec. 3. _Flowers in autumn (Sept.) from catkins of the season; the fertile mostly solitary in the axils of the leaves, ripening the fruit a year later; fruit wingless._

4. A. maritima, Muhl. (SEA-SIDE A.) Glabrous; leaves oblong, ovate, or obovate with a wedge-shaped base, slender-petioled, sharply serrulate, bright green, or rather rusty beneath; fruiting catkins large, ovoid or oblong (9--12'' long, 6'' thick).--Borders of streams and swamps. S. Del. and E. Md., near the coast. Small tree 15--25 deg. high. (E. Asia.)

3. CORYLUS, Tourn. HAZEL-NUT. FILBERT.

Sterile flowers in drooping cylindrical catkins, consisting of 8 (half-) stamens with 1-celled anthers, their short filaments and pair of scaly bractlets cohering more or less with the inner face of the scale of the catkin. Fertile flowers several in a scaly bud, each a single ovary in the axil of a scale or bract, and accompanied by a pair of lateral bractlets; ovary tipped with a short limb of the adherent calyx, incompletely 2-celled, with 2 pendulous ovules, one of them sterile; style short; stigmas 2, elongated and slender. Nut ovoid or oblong, bony, enclosed in a leafy or partly coriaceous cup or involucre, consisting of the two bractlets enlarged and often grown together, lacerated at the border. Cotyledons very thick (raised to the surface in germination), edible; the short radicle included.--Shrubs or small trees, with thinnish doubly-toothed leaves, folded lengthwise in the bud, flowering in early spring; sterile catkins single or fascicled from scaly buds of the axils of the preceding year, the fertile terminating early leafy shoots. (The classical name, probably from [Greek: ko/rys], _a helmet_, from the involucre.)

1. C. Americana, Walt. (WILD HAZEL-NUT.) _Leaves roundish-heart-shaped_, pointed; _involucre open above_ down to the globose nut, _of 2 broad foliaceous cut-toothed almost distinct bracts_, their base coriaceous and downy, or with glandular bristles intermixed.--Thickets, N. Eng. to Ont. and Dak., and southward. Twigs and petioles often glandular-bristly.

2. C. rostrata, Ait. (BEAKED HAZEL-NUT.) _Leaves ovate or ovate-oblong, somewhat heart-shaped_, pointed; _involucre of united bracts, much prolonged_ above the ovoid nut _into a narrow tubular beak, densely bristly_.--N. Scotia to northern N. J., Mich., Minn., and westward, and south in the mountains to Ga. Shrub 2--6 deg. high.

4. OSTRYA, Micheli. HOP-HORNBEAM. IRON-WOOD.

Sterile flowers in drooping cylindrical catkins, consisting of several stamens in the axil of each bract; filaments short, often forked, bearing 1-celled (half-) anthers; their tips hairy. Fertile flowers in short catkins; a pair to each deciduous bract, each of an incompletely 2-celled 2-ovuled ovary, crowned with the short bearded border of the adherent calyx, tipped with 2 long-linear stigmas, and enclosed in a tubular bractlet, which in fruit becomes a closed bladdery oblong bag, very much larger than the small and smooth nut; these inflated involucres loosely imbricated to form a sort of strobile, in appearance like that of the Hop.--Slender trees, with very hard wood, brownish furrowed bark, and foliage resembling that of Birch; leaves open and concave in the bud, more or less plaited on the straight veins. Flowers in the spring, appearing with the leaves; the sterile catkins 1--3 together from scaly buds at the tip of the branches of the preceding year; the fertile single, terminating short leafy shoots of the season. (The classical name.)

1. O. Virginica, Willd. (AMERICAN HOP-HORNBEAM. LEVER-WOOD.) Leaves oblong-ovate, taper-pointed, very sharply doubly serrate, downy beneath, with 11--15 principal veins; buds acute; involucral sacs bristly-hairy at the base.--Rich woods, common, from the Atlantic to N. Minn., Neb., E. Kan., and southward. Tree 25--45 deg. high; hop-like strobiles full-grown in Aug.

5 CARPINUS, L. HORNBEAM. IRON-WOOD.

Sterile flowers in drooping cylindrical catkins, consisting of several stamens in the axil of a simple and entire scale-like bract; filaments very short, mostly 2-forked, the forks bearing 1-celled (half-) anthers with hairy tips. Fertile flowers several, spiked in a sort of loose terminal catkin, with small deciduous bracts, each subtending a pair of flowers, as in Ostrya; but the single involucre-like bractlet is open, enlarged in fruit and foliaceous, merely subtending the small ovate several-nerved nut.--Trees or tall shrubs, with smooth close gray bark, in this and in the slender buds and straight-veined leaves resembling the Beech; leaf-buds and inflorescence as in Ostrya. (The early Latin name.)

1. C. Caroliniana, Walter. (AMERICAN HORNBEAM. BLUE or WATER BEECH.) Leaves ovate-oblong, pointed, sharply doubly serrate, soon nearly smooth; bractlets 3-lobed, halberd-shaped, sparingly cut-toothed on one side, acute. (C. Americana, _Michx._)--Along streams, N. Scotia to Fla., west to Minn., Iowa, E. Kan., and Tex. Tree or shrub, 10--45 deg. high, with ridged trunk, and very hard wood.

6. QUERCUS, L. OAK.

Sterile flowers in slender naked catkins; bracts caducous; calyx 2--8-parted or lobed; stamens 3--12; anthers 2-celled. Fertile flowers scattered or somewhat clustered, consisting of a nearly 3-celled and 6-ovuled ovary, with a 3-lobed stigma, enclosed by a scaly bud-like involucre which becomes an indurated cup (_cupule_) around the base of the rounded nut or acorn. Cotyledons remaining underground in germination; radicle very short, included.--Flowers greenish or yellowish. Sterile catkins single or often several from the same lateral scaly bud, filiform and hanging in all our species. (The classical Latin name.) All flower in spring, and shed their nuts in Oct. of the same or the next year.

Sec. 1. LEUCOBALANUS. _Bark pale, often scaly; leaves and their lobes or teeth obtuse, never bristle-pointed; stamens 6--8; scales of the cup more or less knobby at base; stigmas sessile or nearly so; abortive ovules at the base of the perfect seed; inner surface of nut glabrous; fruit maturing the first year, often peduncled; kernel commonly sweetish; wood tough and dense._

[*] _Leaves deciduous, lyrate or sinuate-pinnatifid, pale beneath._--WHITE OAKS.

1. Q. alba, L. (WHITE OAK.) Mature _leaves smooth, pale or glaucous underneath, bright green above_, obovate-oblong, obliquely cut into 3--9 oblong or linear and obtuse mostly entire lobes; _cup hemispherical-saucer-shaped, rough or tubercled at maturity, naked, much shorter than the ovoid or oblong acorn_ (1' long).--All soils, Maine to S. E. Minn., E. Kan., and south to the Gulf. A large and valuable tree; lobes of the leaves short and broad (3--5), or deep and narrow (5--9).

2. Q. stellata, Wang. (POST OAK. IRON OAK.) _Leaves grayish or yellowish-downy underneath, pale and rough above, thickish_, sinuately cut into 5--7 rounded divergent lobes, the upper ones much larger and often 1--3-notched; _cup deep saucer-shaped, naked, one third or half the length of the ovoid acorn_ (6--9'' long). (Q. obtusiloba, _Michx._)--Sandy or sterile soil, Martha's Vineyard to Mich. and E. Neb., south to Fla. and Tex.; common, especially southward. A small tree with very durable wood.

3. Q. macrocarpa, Michx. (BUR OAK. OVER-CUP or MOSSY-CUP OAK.) _Leaves_ obovate or oblong, _lyrately-pinnatifid or deeply sinuate-lobed, or nearly parted_, sometimes nearly entire, irregular, downy or pale beneath; the lobes sparingly and obtusely toothed, or the smaller ones entire; _cup deep_, thick and woody (9''--2' across), conspicuously imbricated with hard and thick _pointed scales, the upper ones awned_, so as usually to make a mossy-fringed border; _acorn_ broadly ovoid (1--11/2' long), _half immersed in or entirely enclosed by the cup_.--Rich soil, N. Scotia to W. Mass. and Penn., west to Minn., central Neb., and Kan. A large and valuable tree; extremely variable in the size and fringe of the acorns.--Var. OLIVAEFORMIS, Gray, is only a narrower-leaved form with unusually small oblong acorns.

4. Q. lyrata, Walt. (OVER-CUP OAK. SWAMP POST OAK.) Leaves crowded at the end of the branchlets, obovate-oblong, acute at base, more or less deeply _7--9-lobed, white-tomentose beneath_ or at length smoothish, _the lobes triangular to oblong, acute or obtuse, entire_ or sparingly toothed; fruit short-peduncled or sessile; cup round-ovate, thin, _with rugged scales, almost covering the depressed-globose acorn_ (8--10''long).--River swamps, S. E. Mo. to S. Ind., Tenn., N. C., and southward.--A large tree, with flaky bark; intermediate between n. 3 and n. 5.

[*][*] _Leaves coarsely sinuate-toothed, but not lobed_ (except slightly in n. 5), _whitish and more or less downy beneath; cup hoary, hemispherical or a little depressed, about half as long as the oblong-ovoid edible acorn_.--CHESTNUT-OAKS.

5. Q. bicolor, Willd. (SWAMP WHITE OAK.) _Leaves_ obovate or oblong-obovate, _wedge-shaped at base, coarsely sinuate-crenate_ and often rather _pinnatifid_ than toothed, usually _soft-downy and white-hoary_ beneath, the main primary veins 6--8 pairs, lax and little prominent; fruiting _peduncle much longer than the petiole_; upper scales of the cup awn-pointed, sometimes forming a mossy-fringed margin; acorn scarcely 1' long.--Borders of streams and swamps, S. Maine to Ont., Minn., and E. Kan., and south in the mountains to N. Ga.--A large tree, with flaky bark.

6. Q. Michauxii, Nutt. (BASKET-OAK. COW-OAK.) Leaves (5--6' long) oval or obovate, acute, _obtuse or even cordate at base_, regularly _dentate_ (commonly not deeply), _rather rigid, usually very tomentose beneath; stamens usually 10_; fruit short-peduncled; cup shallow, tuberculate with hard and stout acute scales, without fringe; acorn 11/2' long. (Q. Prinus, var Michauxii, _Chapm._)--Borders of streams and swamps, Del. to Fla., and in the west from S. Ind. to Mo., and south to the Gulf.--A large and valuable tree, with gray flaky bark and large sweet edible acorns. Intermediate forms appear to connect with n. 5, of which Dr. Engelmann considered it a sub-species.

7. Q. Prinus, L. (CHESTNUT-OAK.) _Leaves_ thick, varying, obovate or oblong to lanceolate, sometimes acuminate, _with an obtuse or acute base, undulately crenate-toothed, pale and minutely downy beneath_, the main primary ribs 10--16 pairs, straight, prominent beneath; fruiting _peduncles shorter than the petioles, often very short_; cup thick (6--12'' wide), mostly tuberculate with hard and stout scales; acorn large (sometimes 1--11/4' long). (Incl. var. monticola, _Michx._)--Rocky banks and hillsides, E. Mass. to N. Y. and Ont., and south in the mountains to N. Ala. A large tree, with thick and deeply furrowed bark, rich in tannin.

8. Q. Muhlenbergii, Engelm. (YELLOW OAK. CHESTNUT-OAK.) _Leaves_ (5--7' long) _slender-petioled, often oblong or even lanceolate, usually acute or pointed, mostly obtuse or roundish at base, almost equably and rather sharply toothed_; cup subsessile, shallow, thin, of small appressed scales, 5--7'' broad; acorn globose or obovate, 7--9'' long. (Q. Prinus, var. acuminata, _Michx._)--Dry hillsides and rich bottoms, Mass. to Del., along the mountains to N. Ala., west to Minn., E. Neb., and Tex.--Leaves more like those of the Chestnut than any other; the primary veins very straight, impressed above, prominent beneath. A tall tree, with thin flaky bark.

9. Q. prinoides, Willd. Like the last, but of _low stature_ (usually 2--4 deg. high), _with smaller more undulate leaves on shorter petioles_ (3--6'' long), and deeper cups with _more tumid scales_. (Q. Prinus, var. humilis, _Marsh._)--Same range as last. Apparently quite distinct at the east, where it is very low, but running into Q. Muhlenbergii at the far west.

[*][*][*] _Leaves coriaceous, evergreen, entire or rarely spiny-toothed._--LIVE OAKS.

10. Q. virens, Ait. (LIVE OAK.) Leaves small, oblong or elliptical, hoary beneath as well as the branchlets; peduncle usually conspicuous, 1--3-fruited; cup top-shaped; acorn oblong; cotyledons completely united into one mass.--Along the coast from Va. to Fla. and Tex. Becoming a large tree at the south, and formerly extensively used in ship-building.

Sec. 2. MELANOBALANUS. _Bark dark, furrowed; leaves deciduous, their lobes and teeth acute and bristle-pointed (at least in youth); stamens mostly 4--6; cup-scales membranaceous; styles long and spreading; abortive ovules near the top of the perfect seed; inner surface of nut tomentose; fruit maturing the second year, sessile or on short thick peduncles; wood porous and brittle._--BLACK OAKS.

[*] _Leaves pinnatifid or lobed, slender-petioled, not coriaceous, the lobes or teeth conspicuously bristle-pointed._

[+] _Mature leaves glabrous on both sides or nearly so, oval, oblong or somewhat obovate in outline, from moderately sinuate-pinnatifid to deeply pinnatifid, turning various shades of red or crimson in late autumn; large trees, with reddish coarse-grained wood; species closely related and apparently readily hybridizing._

11. Q. rubra, L. (RED OAK.) _Cup saucer-shaped_ or flat, with a narrow raised border (9--12'' in diameter), of rather fine closely appressed scales, sessile or on a very short and abrupt narrow stalk or neck, _very much shorter than the oblong-ovoid or ellipsoidal acorn_, which is 1' or less in length; leaves rather thin, turning dark red after frost, moderately (rarely very deeply) pinnatifid, the lobes acuminate from a broad base, with a few coarse teeth; bark of trunk dark gray, smoothish.--Common both in rich and poor soil, westward to E. Minn. and E. Kan. Timber coarse and poor.--Var. RUNCINATA, A. DC., is a form with regular nearly entire lobes and the fruit nearly a half smaller; found near St. Louis.

12. Q. coccinea, Wang. (SCARLET OAK.) _Cup top-shaped, or hemispherical with a conical base_ (7--9'' broad), coarsely scaly, covering half or more of the _broadly or globular-ovoid acorn_, the scales somewhat appressed and glabrate, or in western localities yellowish-canescent and squarrose as in var. tinctoria; leaves in the ordinary forms, at least on full-grown trees, bright green, shining above, turning red in autumn, deeply pinnatifid, the slender lobes divergent and sparingly cut-toothed; buds small; acorns 6--9'' long; bark of the trunk gray, the interior reddish.--Moist or dry soil; common, from S. Maine to Del., Minn., N. Mo., and south in the mountains.

Var. tinctoria, Gray. (QUERCITRON, YELLOW-BARKED, or BLACK OAK.) Leaves with broader undivided lobes, commonly paler and somewhat pubescent beneath, turning brownish, orange, or dull red in autumn; cup-scales large and loosely imbricated or squarrose when dry, yellowish gray, pubescent; bark of trunk darker-colored and rougher on the surface, thicker, and internally orange, much more valuable for the tanner and dyer; buds longer and more pointed; cup sometimes less top-shaped. (Q. tinctoria, _Bartram_.)--Dry or gravelly uplands, S. Maine to S. Minn., E. Neb. and Tex. Intermediate forms connect this with the type. The bark is largely used in tanning.

Var. ambigua, Gray. (GRAY OAK.) Found along our northeastern borders to Lake Champlain and northward, figured and briefly characterized by Michaux as with the foliage of Q. rubra and the fruit of Q. coccinea. It was considered by Dr. Engelmann as a form of Q. rubra with cups hemispherical or even turbinate.

13. Q. palustris, Du Roi. (SWAMP SPANISH or PIN OAK.) _Cup flat-saucer-shaped_, sometimes contracted into a short scaly base or stalk, fine-scaled (5--7'' broad), _very much shorter than the usually globose or depressed acorn_, which is 5--7'' long; leaves deeply pinnatifid with divergent lobes and broad rounded sinuses.--Low grounds; rather common, from Mass. to Del. and Md., west to Minn., E. Kan., and Ark.

[+][+] _Mature leaves soft-downy beneath; cup saucer-shaped, with a somewhat top-shaped base, about half the length of the fully developed small acorn._

14. Q. falcata, Michx. (SPANISH OAK.) _Leaves grayish-downy or fulvous underneath_, obtuse or rounded at base, _3--5-lobed above_ (sometimes entire); _the lobes prolonged, mostly narrow and more or less scythe-shaped_, especially the terminal one, entire or sparingly cut-toothed; acorn globose, 4--5'' long.--Dry or sandy soil, Long Island to Fla., and from S. Ind. to Mo. and Tex. A large or small tree, extremely variable in foliage; bark excellent for tanning.

15. Q. ilicifolia, Wang. (BEAR or BLACK SCRUB-OAK.) _Dwarf_ (3--8 deg. high), straggling; _leaves_ (2--4' long) thickish, _obovate, wedge-shaped at base, angularly about 5- (3--7-) lobed, white-downy beneath_; lobes short and triangular, spreading; acorn ovoid, globular, 5--6'' long.--Sandy barrens and rocky hills, N. Eng. to Ohio and Ky.

[*][*] _Leaves entire or with a few teeth (or somewhat 3--5-lobed at the summit), coriaceous, commonly bristle-pointed; acorns globular, small (not over 6'' long)._

[+] _Leaves thick, widening or often much dilated upward and more or less sinuate or somewhat 3--5-lobed; acorns globular-ovoid._

16. Q. aquatica, Walter. (WATER-OAK.) _Leaves glabrous and shining, obovate-spatulate or narrowly wedge-form, with a long tapering base_ and an often obscurely 3-lobed summit, varying to oblanceolate; cup saucer-shaped or hemispherical.--Wet grounds, around ponds, etc., Del. to the Gulf, and from Ky. and Mo. to Tex.--Tree 30--40 deg. high; running into many varieties, especially southward; the leaves on seedlings and strong shoots often incised or sinuate-pinnatifid; then mostly bristle-pointed.

17. Q. nigra, L. (BLACK-JACK or BARREN OAK.) _Leaves broadly wedge-shaped_, but sometimes rounded or obscurely cordate at the base, _widely dilated_ and somewhat 3-lobed (rarely 5-lobed) at the summit, occasionally with one or two lateral conspicuously bristle-tipped lobes or teeth, rusty-pubescent beneath, shining above, large (4--9' long); _cup top-shaped_, coarse-scaly; acorn short-ovoid.--Dry sandy barrens, or heavy clay soil, Long Island to S. Minn., E. Neb., and southward. A small tree (sometimes 30--40 deg. high), of little value.

[+][+] _Leaves not dilated upward, generally entire; acorn globose._

18. Q. imbricaria, Michx. (LAUREL or SHINGLE OAK.) _Leaves lanceolate-oblong_, thickish, smooth, and _shining above, downy underneath, the down commonly persistent_; cup between saucer-shaped and top-shaped.--Rich woodlands, Penn. to Ga., west to S. Wisc., Iowa, E. Neb., and N. Ark.--Tree 30--90 deg. high. The specific name is in allusion to its early use for shingles.

19. Q. Phellos, L. (WILLOW-OAK.) _Leaves linear-Lanceolate, narrowed to both ends, soon glabrous_, light green (3--4' long); cup saucer-shaped.--Bottom lands or rich sandy uplands, Staten Island to N. Fla., west to S. Ky., Mo., and Tex.

In addition to the above, the following hybrids have been recognized:--

Q. ALBA x MACROCARPA; N. Ill. (_Bebb_); central Ill. (_Hall_).

Q. ALBA x STELLATA; N. Ill. (_Bebb_); D. C. (_Vasey_); S. C. (_Mellichamp_).

Q. ALBA x PRINUS; near Washington, D. C. (_Vasey._)

Q. IMBRICARIA x NIGRA (Q. tridentata, _Engelmann_); S. Ill. (_Engelmann_).

Q. IMBRICARIA x PALUSTRIS; Mo. (_Engelmann_).

Q. IMBRICARIA x COCCINEA (Q. Leana, _Nutt._); Ohio to Mo., and near Washington, D. C.

Q. PHELLOS x RUBRA (?) or COCCINEA (?) (Q. heterophylla, _Michx._); Staten Island and N. J. to Del. and N. C. (BARTRAM'S OAK.)

Q. PHELLOS x NIGRA (Q. Rudkini, _Britt._); N. J. (_Rudkin_).

Q. ILICIFOLIA x COCCINEA (?); Uxbridge, Mass. (_Robbins._)

7. CASTANEA, Tourn. CHESTNUT.

Sterile flowers interruptedly clustered in long and naked cylindrical catkins; calyx mostly 6-parted; stamens 8--20; filaments slender; anthers 2-celled. Fertile flowers few, usually 3 together in an ovoid scaly prickly involucre; calyx with a 6-lobed border crowning the 3--7-celled 6--14-ovuled ovary; abortive stamens 5--12; styles linear, exserted, as many as the cells of the ovary; stigmas small. Nuts coriaceous, ovoid, enclosed 2--3 together or solitary in the hard and thick very prickly 4-valved involucre. Cotyledons very thick, somewhat plaited, cohering together, remaining underground in germination.--Leaves strongly straight-veined, undivided. Flowers appearing later than the leaves, cream-color; the catkins axillary near the end of the branches, wholly sterile or the upper ones androgynous with the fertile flowers at the base. (The classical name, from that of a town in Thessaly.)

1. C. sativa, Mill., var. Americana. (CHESTNUT.) A large tree, _leaves oblong-lanceolate, pointed_, serrate with coarse pointed teeth, acute at base, when mature _smooth and green both sides_; nuts 2 or 3 in each involucre, therefore flattened on one or both sides, very sweet. (C. vesca, var., of the Manual.)--Rocky woods and hillsides, S. Maine to Del., along the mountains to N. Ala., and west to S. Mich., S. Ind., and Tenn.

2. C. pumila, Mill. (CHINQUAPIN.) A spreading shrub or small tree; _leaves oblong, acute_, serrate with pointed teeth, _whitened-downy beneath_; involucres small, often spiked; the ovoid pointed nut scarcely half as large as a common chestnut, very sweet, solitary, not flattened.--Rich hillsides and borders of swamps, S. Penn. to Fla., west to S. Ind. and Tex.

8. FAGUS, Tourn. BEECH.

Sterile flowers in small heads on drooping peduncles, with deciduous scale-like bracts; calyx bell-shaped, 5--7-cleft; stamens 8--16; filaments slender; anthers 2-celled. Fertile flowers usually in pairs at the apex of a short peduncle, invested by numerous awl-shaped bractlets, the inner coherent at base to form the 4-lobed involucre; calyx-lobes 6, awl shaped; ovary 3-celled with 2 ovules in each cell; styles 3, thread-like, stigmatic along the inner side. Nuts sharply 3-sided, usually 2 in each urn-shaped and soft-prickly coriaceous involucre, which divides to below the middle into 4 valves. Cotyledons thick, folded and somewhat united; but rising and expanding in germination.--Trees, with a close and smooth ash-gray bark, a light horizontal spray, and undivided strongly straight-veined leaves, which are open and convex in the tapering bud and plaited on the veins. Flowers appearing with the leaves, the yellowish staminate flowers from the lower, the pistillate from the upper axils of the leaves of the season. (The classical Latin name, from [Greek: pha/go], _to eat_, in allusion to the esculent nuts.)

1. F. ferruginea, Ait. (AMERICAN BEECH.) Tree 75--100 deg. high; leaves oblong-ovate, taper-pointed, distinctly and often coarsely toothed; petioles and midrib soon nearly naked; prickles of the fruit mostly recurved or spreading.--N. Scotia to Fla., west to Wisc., E. Ill., Mo., and Tex.

ORDER 104. SALICACEAE. (WILLOW FAMILY.)

_Dioecious trees or shrubs, with both kinds of flowers in catkins, one to each bract, without perianth; the fruit a 1-celled and 2--4-valved pod, with 2--4 parietal or basal placentae, bearing numerous seeds furnished with long silky down._--Style usually short or none; stigmas 2, often 2-lobed. Seeds ascending, anatropous, without albumen. Cotyledons flattened.--Leaves alternate, undivided, with scale-like and deciduous, or else leaf-like and persistent, stipules. Wood soft and light; bark bitter.

1. Salix. Bracts entire. Flowers with small glands, disks none. Stamens few. Stigmas short. Buds with a single scale.

2. Populus. Bracts lacerate. Flowers with a broad or cup-shaped disk. Stamens numerous. Stigmas elongated. Buds scaly.

1. SALIX, Tourn. WILLOW. OSIER. (By M. S. BEBB, Esq.)

Bracts (_scales_) of the catkins entire. Sterile flowers of 3--10, mostly 2, distinct or united stamens, accompanied by 1 or 2 small glands. Fertile flowers also with a small flat gland at the base of the ovary; stigmas short.--Trees or shrubs, generally growing along streams, with terete and lithe branches. Leaves mostly long and pointed, entire or glandularly toothed. Buds covered by a single scale, with an inner adherent membrane (separating in n. 14). Catkins appearing before or with the leaves. (The classical Latin name.)

Sec. 1. _Aments borne on short lateral leafy branchlets; scales yellowish, falling before the capsules mature; filaments hairy below, all free; style very short or obsolete; stigmas thick, notched. Trees or large shrubs; leaves taper-pointed._

[*] _Leaves closely serrate with inflexed teeth; capsules glabrous._

[+] _Stamens 3--5 or more._

[++] _Trees 15--50 deg. high, with rough bark and slender twigs; no petiolar glands; sterile aments elongated, narrowly cylindrical; flowers somewhat remotely subverticillate; scales entire, short and rounded, crisp-villous on the inside._

1. S. nigra, Marsh. (BLACK WILLOW.) _Leaves narrowly lanceolate, very long-attenuate from near the roundish or acute base to the usually curved tip_, often downy when young, at length _green and glabrous_ except the petiole and midrib; stipules large, semicordate, pointed and persistent, or small, ovoid and deciduous; fruiting aments (11/2--3' long) more or less dense; capsules ovate-conical, shortly pedicelled.--Banks of streams and lakes, bending over the water; common.--Var. FALCATA, Torr. Leaves narrower and scythe-shaped--Var. WARDI, Bebb. Leaves broader, often 1' wide, glaucous and veined beneath; stipules large, round-reniform; aments long, loosely flowered; capsules globose-conical, long-pedicelled. Rocky islands of the Potomac (_Ward_); Falls of the Ohio (_Short_); Mo. The leaves alone are easily mistaken for those of n. 14.--A hybrid of this species with S. alba, var. vitellina, is found in Wayne Co., N. Y. (_E. L. Hankenson_).

2. S. amygdaloides, Anders. _Leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate_, 2--4' long, attenuate-cuspidate, _pale or glaucous beneath; petioles long and slender_; stipules minute, very early deciduous; _fertile aments becoming very loose in fruit_ from the lengthening of the slender pedicels.--Central N. Y. (_Dudley_) to Mo.; common westward.

[++][++] _A shrub or small bushy tree, 6--15 deg. high, with smooth bark and rather stout polished twigs; petioles glandular; sterile aments thick, oblong-cylindrical, densely flowered; stamens commonly 5; scales dentate, hairy at base, smooth above._

3. S. lucida, Muhl. (SHINING W.) Leaves ovate-lanceolate or narrower, tapering to a very long acuminate point, at length coriaceous, smooth and shining both sides; stipules small, oblong; fruiting aments often persistent, the capsules becoming rigid and polished, as in the nearly allied S. pentandra of Europe.--Banks of streams, N. Eng. to Penn., west and northward. A beautiful species on account of its showy staminate aments and large glossy leaves.

[+][+] _Stamens mostly 2; capsules subsessile or very shortly pedicelled; leaves lanceolate, long-acuminate._

S. FRAGILIS, L. (CRACK WILLOW.) _Leaves green and glabrous_, pale or glaucous beneath, 3--6' long; stipules when present half-cordate; stamens rarely 3--4; _capsule long-conical, shortly pedicelled_.--A tall and handsome tree, which was planted at an early day about Boston and elsewhere.--The var. DECIPIENS, Smith, with yellowish-white or crimson twigs, buds black in winter, and smaller and brighter green leaves, ought perhaps to be excluded, the plant so named by Barratt, etc., being one of the hybrids mentioned below. (Adv. from Eu.)

S. ALBA, L. (WHITE W.) _Leaves ashy-gray or silky-white on both sides_, except when old, 2--4' long; stipules ovate-lanceolate, deciduous; capsules ovate-conical, sessile or nearly so.--Var. CAERULEA, Koch; twigs olive; old leaves smooth, glaucous beneath, dull bluish green.--Var. VITELLINA, Koch; twigs yellow or reddish; old leaves glabrous above.--A familiar tree of rapid growth, attaining a height of 50--80 deg. The typical form, with olive twigs and old leaves silky on both sides, is rarely found with us, but the var. VITELLINA is common. Pure S. FRAGILIS is also scarce, but a host of hybrids between the two, representing S. viridis, _Fries_, S. Russelliana, _Smith_, etc., are the commonest of introduced willows. These forms are rendered almost inextricable by a further cross, by no means rare, with our native S. lucida. (Adv. from Eu.)

S. BABYLONICA, Tourn. (WEEPING W.) Extensively planted for ornament, and in some places widely spread along river-banks and lake-shores by the drifting of detached limbs. (Adv. from Eu.)

[*][*] _Leaves remotely denticulate with projecting teeth; stamens 2; capsule glabrous or silky._

4. S. longifolia, Muhl. Leaves linear-lanceolate, 2--4' long, tapering at each end, nearly sessile, more or less silky when young, at length smooth and green both sides; stipules small, lanceolate, deciduous; aments linear-cylindric, often clustered at the ends of the branchlets; capsule shortly pedicelled; stigmas large, sessile.--Found sparingly along the Atlantic coast from Maine to the Potomac; common westward. A shrub, rooting extensively in alluvial deposits and forming dense clumps. This species is a peculiar American type, and exceedingly variable; the earliest leaves after germination pinnately lobed.

Sec. 2. _Aments lateral or terminal, with or without bracts; scales persistent, colored at the tip; stamens 2 (usually 1 in n. 19), with glabrous filaments (united and hairy in_ S. purpurea); _shrubs or small trees._

[*] _Capsules tomentose._

[+] _Pedicels 3--6 times the length of the gland; style medium or none._

[++] _Large shrubs or small trees (8--15 deg. high); leaves obovate or elliptic-lanceolate, 2--4' long, acute or acuminate, more or less obscurely and irregularly serrate, thin becoming rigid, glaucous beneath; fertile aments oblong-cylindric, 2--3' long, loosely flowered._

5. S. rostrata, Richardson. _Leaves dull green and downy above_, stoutly veined and _soft-hairy beneath_, serrate, crenate or subentire; stipules when present semi-cordate, toothed, acute; _aments appearing with the leaves_, the sterile narrowed at base, pale yellow; capsules tapering to a very long slender beak; _pedicels thread-like, much exceeding the pale, rose-tipped, linear, thinly villous scales_; style scarcely any; stigma-lobes entire or deeply parted. (S. livida, var. occidentalis, _Gray_.)--Moist or dry ground, N. Eng. to Penn., and far west and northward. Not spreading from the root but having rather the habit of a small tree, with a distinct trunk.

6. S. discolor, Muhl. (GLAUCOUS W.) _Leaves smooth and bright green above, soon smooth beneath_, irregularly crenate-serrate, the serratures remote at base, closer, finer and becoming obsolete toward the point; stipules 1/2' long or more, and sharply toothed, or small and nearly entire; _aments closely sessile, thick, oblong-cylindrical_, 1' long or more, _appearing before the leaves_ in earliest spring; _scales dark red or brown, becoming black, copiously clothed with long glossy hairs_; style short but distinct.--Var. ERIOCEPHALA, Anders. Aments more densely flowered and more silvery silky; leaves sometimes retaining a ferruginous pubescence beneath even when fully grown.--Var. PRINOIDES, Anders. Aments more loosely flowered, less silky; capsules more thinly tomentose; style longer; stigma-lobes laciniate; leaves narrower. (S. prinoides, _Pursh._) Includes narrow-leaved forms of the type, and others which are probably hybrids with S. cordata.--Low meadows and river-banks, common. The just expanding leaves are often overspread with evanescent ferruginous hairs.

[++][++] _Upland grayish shrubs, 1--8 deg. high; leaves oblanceolate, pointed, the lowest obtuse, downy above becoming glabrate, beneath glaucous, rugose-veined and softly tomentose, the margin revolute, undulate-entire; aments ovoid or oblong, closely sessile, appearing before the leaves, naked at base; capsules rather shortly pedicelled, greenish or reddish, spreading; scales dark red or brownish; style distinct; stigmas bifid._