ed; 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.

[Illustration: PLATE XXXV.--Fagus ferruginea.]

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.

=Habitat and Range.=--In strong, well-drained soil; pastures, rocky
woods, and hillsides.

Ontario,--common.

Maine,--southern sections, probably not indigenous north of latitude 44 deg.
20'; New Hampshire,--Connecticut valley near the river, as far north as
Windsor, Vt.; most abundant in the Merrimac valley south of Concord, but
occasional a short distance northward; Vermont,--common in the
southern sections, especially in the Connecticut valley; occasional as
far north as Windsor (Windsor county), West Rutland (Rutland county),
Burlington (Chittenden county); Massachusetts,--rather common throughout
the state, but less frequent near the sea; Rhode Island and
Connecticut,