Part 25

=Habit.=--A large tree, 50-75 feet high, with a diameter of 1-3 feet; occasionally of greater dimensions. The trunk develops a broad-spreading, open head, composed of a few large limbs ascending at an acute angle, with nearly horizontal secondary branches and a slender, flexible spray without any marked tendency to droop. Characterized by the dark metallic lustre of the branchlets, the dark green foliage, deep yellow in autumn, and the chalky whiteness of the trunk and large branches; a singularly picturesque tree, whether standing alone or grouped in forests.

=Bark.=--Easily detachable in broad sheets and separable into thin, delicately colored, paper-like layers, impenetrable by water, outlasting the wood it covers. Bark of trunk and large branches chalky-white when fully exposed to the sun, lustreless, smooth or ragged-frayed, in very old forest trees encrusted with huge lichens, and splitting into broad plates; young trunks and smaller branches smooth, reddish or grayish brown, with numerous roundish buff dots which enlarge from year to year into more and more conspicuous horizontal lines. The white of the bark readily rubs off upon clothing.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, ovate, flattish, acute to rounded. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-5 inches long, two-thirds as wide, dark green and smooth above, beneath pale, hairy along the veins, sometimes in young trees thickly glandular-dotted on both sides; outline ovate, ovate-oblong, or ovate-orbicular, more or less doubly serrate; apex acute to acuminate; base somewhat heart-shaped, truncate or obtuse; leafstalk 1-2 inches long, grooved above, downy; stipules falling early.

=Inflorescence.=--April to May. Sterile catkins mostly in threes, 3-4 inches long: fertile catkins 1-1-1/2 inches long, cylindrical, slender-peduncled, erect or spreading; bracts puberulent.

=Fruit.=--Fruiting catkins 1-2 inches long, cylindrical, short-stalked, spreading or drooping: nut obovate to oval, narrower than its wings; combined wings butterfly-shaped, nearly twice as wide as long.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers a well-drained loam or gravelly soil, but does fairly well in almost any situation; young trees rapid growing and vigorous, but with the same tendency to grow irregularly that is shown by the black and yellow birches; transplanted without serious difficulty; not offered by many nurserymen, but may be obtained from northern collectors.

1. Leaf-buds. 2. Flower-buds. 3. Flowering branch. 4. Sterile flower, front view. 5. Fertile flower, front view. 6. Scale of fertile flower. 7. Fruiting branch. 8. Fruit.

=Alnus glutinosa, Medic.=

EUROPEAN ALDER.

This is the common alder of Great Britain and central Europe southward, growing chiefly along water courses, in boggy grounds and upon moist mountain slopes; introduced into the United States and occasionally escaping from cultivation; sometimes thoroughly established locally. In Medford, Mass., there are many of these plants growing about two small ponds and upon the neighboring lowlands, most of them small, but among them are several trees 30-40 feet in height and 8-12 inches in diameter at the ground, distinguishable at a glance from the shrubby native alders by their greater size, more erect habit, and darker trunks.

FAGACEAE. BEECH FAMILY.

=Fagus ferruginea, Ait.=

Fagus Americana, Sweet. Fagus atropunicea, Sudw.

BEECH.

=Habitat and Range.=--Moist, rocky soil.

Nova Scotia through Quebec and Ontario.

Maine,--abundant; New Hampshire,--throughout the state; common on the Connecticut-Merrimac watershed, enters largely into the composition of the hardwood forests of Coos county; Vermont,--abundant; Massachusetts,--in western sections abundant, common eastward; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--common.

South to Florida; west to Wisconsin, Missouri, and Texas.

=Habit.=--A tree of great beauty, rising to a height of 50-75 feet, with a diameter at the ground of 1-1/2-4 feet; under favorable conditions attaining much greater dimensions; trunk remarkably smooth, sometimes fluted, in the forests tall and straight, in open situations short and stout; head symmetrical, of various shapes,--rounded, oblong, or even obovate; branches numerous, mostly long and slender, curving slightly upward at their tips, near the point of branching horizontal or slightly drooping, beset with short branchlets which form a flat, dense, and beautiful spray; roots numerous, light brown, long, and running near the surface. Tree easily distinguishable in winter by the dried brownish-white leaves, spear-like buds, and smooth bark.

=Bark.=--Trunk light blue gray, smooth, unbroken, slightly corrugated in old trees, often beautifully mottled in blotches or bands and invested by lichens; branches gray; branchlets dark brown and smooth; spray shining, reddish-brown; season's shoots a shining olive green, orange-dotted.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds conspicuous, long, very slender, tapering slowly to a sharp point; scales rich brown, lengthening as the bud opens. Leaves set in plane of the spray, simple, alternate, 3-5 inches long, one-half as wide, silky-pubescent with fringed edges when young, nearly smooth when fully grown, green on both sides, turning to rusty yellows and browns in autumn, persistent till mid-winter; outline oval, serrate; apex acuminate; base rounded; veins strong, straight, terminating in the teeth; leafstalk short, hairy at first; stipules slender, silky, soon falling.

=Inflorescence.=--May. Appearing with the leaves from the season's shoots, sterile flowers from the lower axils, in heads suspended at the end of silky threads 1-2 inches long; calyx campanulate, pubescent, yellowish-green, mostly 6-lobed; petals none; stamens 6-16; anthers exserted; ovary wanting or abortive: fertile flowers from the upper axils, usually single or in pairs, at the end of a short peduncle; involucre 4-lobed, fringed with prickly scales; calyx with six awl-shaped lobes; ovary 3-celled; styles 3.

=Fruit.=--A prickly bur, thick, 4-valved, splitting nearly to the base when ripe: nut sharply triangular, sweet, edible.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows well in any good soil, but prefers deep, rich, well-drained loam; usually obtainable in nurseries; when frequently transplanted, safely moved. Its clean trunk and limbs, deep shade, and freedom from insect pests make it one of the most attractive of our large trees for use, summer or winter, in landscape gardening; few plants, however, will grow beneath it; the bark is easily disfigured; it has a bad habit of throwing out suckers and is liable to be killed by any injury to the roots. Propagated from the seed. The purple beech, weeping beech, and fern-leaf beech are well-known horticultural forms.

1. Winter buds. 2. Flowering branch. 3. Sterile flower. 4. Fertile flower. 5. Fruiting branch. 6. Section of fruit. 7. Nut.

=Castanea sativa, var. Americana, Watson and Coulter.=

Castanea dentata, Borkh. Castanea vesca, var. Americana, Michx.

CHESTNUT.