b. Species not yet introduced. 3. F. OBLIQUA Mirb. The oblique-leaved Beech. Identification. Mém. Mus., 14. p. 466. Engravings. Mém. Mus., 14. t. 23.; and our fig. 1919. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves ovate-oblong oblique, somewhat rhomboid; blunt, doubly serrated, entire at the base; attenuated into the petiole, somewhat downy. Perianth of the male flowers solitary, hemispherical, sinuated. Anthers 30-40. Cupules capsuliform, muricate, 4-partite; segments ovate, obtuse. Ovaries included, 3-sided; angles winged. (Mirbel.) A tall tree, a native of Chili, and found by Dombey near Concepcion; flowering in September. In Chili, it is known by the name of Roblé. Leaves alternate, from 1 in. to 2 in. long, and from 4 lines to 8 lines broad. Stipules deciduous, membranaceous, lanceolate, linear; about the length of the petioles. (Mirb. Mém. Mus., xiv. p. 466.) 1919 TIRU B. Cupule involucriform; Segments narrow, laciniate. Ovaries laterally inserted. Young leaves not plicate. a. Species introduced into Britain. 14. F. BETULÖI'DES Mirb. The Birch-like, or evergreen, Beech. Identification. Mirb. in Mém, Mus., 14. p. 470.; Hook. in Bot. Mag. Synonyme. Bétula antarctica Forst. in Comm. Goett., 9. p. 45., Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 466. Engravings. Mém. Mus., 14. t. 25.; and our fig. 1920. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves ovate-elliptic, obtuse, crenulate, leathery, shining, glabrous; round at the base, on short footstalks. Perianth of the male flowers solitary, turbinate, 5-7-lobed. Anthers 10-16. Cupules involucriform, smooth, 4-partite; segments nearly linear, laciniate. Ovaries 3-sided, laterally exserted; angles marginate. (Mirbel.) An evergreen tree, a native of Terra del Fuego, where it forms vast forests. Branches divaricate, tortuous, brownish; young ones pubescent. Leaves ciliate, alternate, from 4 to 10 lines long, and from 3 to 8 lines broad. Flowers axillary. The structure and disposition of the male flowers, as well as many other characters of vegetation, resemble those of F. antarctica Forst.; but, according to this botanist, the leaves of F. antarctica are plaited in the bud; and the disk is less prolonged on one side of the petiole than on the other, which characters do not exist in F. betuloides. (Mém. Mus., xiv. p. 470.) The evergreen beech grows at Port Famine, Straits of Magellan, and in its neighbourhood, in the greatest abundance. It attains a very large size; trees of 3 ft. in diameter being common, and there being many with trunks 4 ft. in diameter. There is one tree (perhaps the very same as that mentioned by Commodore Byron), the trunk of which averages 7 ft. in diameter to the height of 17 ft., and then divides into three large limbs, each of which is 3 ft. in diameter. (See Journ. of Geo. Soc., and Bot. Mag. for June, 1836.) This beech is also a native of Van Dieman's Land, where it is called the myrtle tree by the colonists. It generally grows in the western part of the island, where an esculent fungus is found in clusters around the swollen parts of its branches. This fungus varies in size from that of a marble to that of a walnut: when young, it is whitish, and covered with a skin like that of a young potato. This skin is easily taken off; and the remaining portion, when raw, tastes like cold cow-heel. When this fungus is matured, the skin splits, and exhibits a sort of network of a yellowish white colour. (See Backhouse in Gard. Mag., vol. xi. p. 340.; and Comp. to Bot. Mag., vol. ii. p. 340.) F. betulöides is said to have been introduced in 1830; but we have not seen the plant. 5. F. ANTARCTICA Forst. The antarctic Beech. 1920 Identification. Forst. in Comment. Goett., 9. p. 24.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 460. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves ovate, blunt, glabrous; attenuated at the base; doubly dentate; their margins naked. (Willd.) A native of Terra del Fuego, and introduced in 1850. Branches rugged, tortuous. Leaves alternate, petiolate, 14 in. long; plicate; veins on the under side somewhat downy; the teeth roundish, blunt. (Willd. Sp. Pl., iv. p. 460.) We have never seen the plant. b. Species not yet introduced into British Gardens. 6. F. DOMBE YI Mirb. Dombey's, or the Myrtle-leaved, Beech. Identification. Mém. Mus., 14. p. 468.; Comp. Bot. Mag., 1. p. 301. Engravings. Mém. Mus., 14. t. 24.; and our fig. 1921. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves ovate-lan- iduous, about the length of the petiole. Fruit unknown. (Mém. Mus., xiv. p. 408.) ? 10. F. DU BIA Mirb. Identification. Mém. Mus., 14. t. 26. The dubious Beech. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves ovate, bluntish, doubly serrate, coriaceous, shining, glabrous; round at the base, on short footstalks. Perianth of the male solitary, turbinate, 5-7-lobed. Anthers 10-16. (Mirb.) It is extremely probable that the F. dùbia is nothing more than a variety of F. betulöldes. The branches are smoother and more elongated; the leaves larger, oval, and not elliptic; and den. tate, not crenulate; all which differences may be the result of a more vigorous growth. The dried specimen in other respects perfectly resembles that of F. betulöldes; and Commerson, who gathered it at the Straits of Magellan, had placed it along with that species, under the name of Bétula antarctica. As Mirbel had not seen the female flower, he thought it better not to confound it with F. betulöides. GENUS III. CASTANEA Tourn. THE CHESTNUT. Lin. Syst. Monce'cia Polyándria. Identification. Tourn., 352.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 460.; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 65. Description, &c. Deciduous trees, with nearly the same geographical distribution as the oak, but more tender. There is only one European species, which is chiefly valuable as a fruit tree, and as coppice-wood; the timber of full-grown trees being brittle, and of short duration. The foliage is large and ornamental; and, in this and its fruit, it bears a close analogy to the beech. The botanical difference between the two genera has been noticed in p. 1949. 1. C. VE'SCA Gærtn. The eatable, sweet, or Spanish, Chestnut. Identification. Gærtn. Sem., 1. p. 181.; Michx. Amer., 2. p. 193.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 460.; Lindl. Synop., p. 171. Synonymes. Fagus Castanea Lin. Hort. Cliff, 447., Hort. Ups., 287., Roy. Lugdb., 79., Mat. Derivation. The term Sweet Chestnut is applied with reference to the fruit, in contradistinction to Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 886.; Blackw., t. 330.; Hunt. Evel., 1. p. 152.; N. Du Ham., 3. t. 19.; and the plates of this tree in our last Volume. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, mucronately serrated; glabrous on each side. (Willd.) A stately tree, rivalling the oak in size and longevity; but, in regard to its timber, comparatively worthless. A native of Asia Minor; but cultivated in the temperate parts of Europe from time immemorial. Varieties. These may be arranged in two classes; those which are considered botanical varieties, and those which are cultivated on account of their fruit. A. Botanical Varieties. C. v. 2 asplenifolia Lodd. Cat., 1836; C. heterophylla Hort.; C. laciniata Hort.; C. salicifòlia Hort., has the leaves cut into shreds, regularly, or irregularly, and sometimes so as to appear like linear-lanceolate leaves; and hence the epithet of salicifòlia. C. v. 3 cochleata Lodd. Cat., 1836, has the leaves cuculate, or hooded, with a diseased stunted appearance. * C. v. 4 glabra Lodd. Cat., 1836; C. v. fòliis lùcidus Hort.; has the leaves * C. v. 5 glaúca, C. glaúca Hort., has the leaves somewhat glaucous. 1 C. v. 7 americàna; C. vésca Michx. N. Amer. Syl., iii. p. 9.—This variety B. Fruit-bearing Varieties. In the French catalogues these are very numerous; and in De Chabrol's Statistiques de Savone, &c., it is stated that between 40 and 50 varieties are cultivated in the province of Mondovi, in Piedmont. (See Gard. Mag., vol. i. p. 322.) There are upwards of 20 sorts cultivated in the London Horticultural Society's Garden, of which Mr. Thompson considers the four following as deserving the preference for ornamental cultivation : - Chataignier prime, C. Rallue, the Downton Chestnut, and Prolific Chestnut. Besides these there are the following English sorts:-Devonshire, Lewis's, Lisbon, Masters's, Canterbury, Knight's Prolific, and the New Prolific. The nurserymen in the south of Devonshire, and in Jersey, generally pay more attention to the sweet chestnut, as a fruit tree, than the nurserymen in the neighbourhood of London. There is said to be a tree of a very superior variety in a garden in St. Peter's parish, Jersey, from which, it is believed, plants are propagated in Saunders's Nursery, in that island. (See Gard. Mag., vol. vii. p. 101.) The varieties cultivated in France for the table are divided into two kinds, viz., les châtaignes and les marrons; the former being to the latter what the crab is to the apple. The latter are, of course, much preferred, being larger, more farinaceous, and sweeter. When roasted, they have also a rich creamy flavour, and an aromatic odour, in which the common chestnuts are quite deficient. The best marrons sold in Paris are the marrons de Lyons; and the best kinds of the common chestnut are:- La châtaigne de Bois, the fruit of which is small, will not keep, and is of little flavour; and the tree forms the principal coppice-wood in the neighbourhood of Paris: la Châtaigne ordinaire, of which the fruit is rather better, and the tree more vigorous, and a greater bearer: la Châtaigne pourtalonne, the fruit of which is very fine, and produced in great abundance: la Châtaigne printanière, the fruit of which has no other merit than that of being produced very early in the season la Châtaigne verte du Limousin, which produces very large excellent fruit, which will keep a long time, and the tree of which preserves its leaves green much longer than any of the other varieties: and la Châtaigne exalade, the fruit of which is the best of all the common chestnuts for the table; but the tree, which is low, with spreading branches, is such an abundant bearer, that it soon exhausts itself. (Le Bon Jard. 1837.) Description, &c. The chestnut, under favourable circumstances, is a magnificent tree, though it never attains a height, or diameter of head, equal to the British oak; and it differs essentially from that tree, in its timber not increasing in value as it increases in age. The trunk, in deep free soils, and in situations sheltered rather than exposed, rises erect, and forms a massive column of wood; but, in unsuitable soils, and in elevated exposed situations, and in cold climates, it ramifies at the height of 10 ft. or 12 ft., and the tree assumes the character of a large pollard. In all cases, the diameter of the trunk is very large, in proportion to the diameter of the head, or the height of the tree. The branches form nearly the same angle with the trunk as those of the oak; though in thriving trees the angle is somewhat more acute. They spread widely, and are round, and smooth when young. The bark is remarkable for its deep wide clefts, which, Sir J. E. Smith says, " seem to have furnished ideas for some ornaments in Gothic architecture;" alluding, we suppose, to some kinds of tracery in the upper parts of windows in the florid Gothic style. The leaves on old trees are from 4 in. to 6 in. long; but on young and vigorous shoots they are often nearly 1 ft. in length, and from 3 in. to 4 in. in breadth. In France, the leaves of the châtaigniers are narrower than those of the marroniers, and those of both are narrower than the leaves of wild and cultivated chestnuts in England; which difference may be observed in the two climates to be the case more or less with all broad-leaved trees. The leaves are elliptic-lanceolate, acute, smooth, with many transverse veins, terminating in sharp serratures; often, but not always, terminating in mucros. They are of a rich shining green above; and paler, and sometimes rather glaucous, beneath. The barren catkins are numerous, axillary, solitary, yellow, and pendulous; almost as long as the leaves, and deciduous. The flowers are produced on the wood of the current year, and are ranged along the common stalk, in lateral sessile tufts. The stamens are numerous and spreading. The fertile flowers are much fewer than the barren ones: they are placed on terminal stalks, which are lengthened out as the fruit advances. The styles are about 6, with long, smooth, upright stigmas. Gærtner detected about 12 scarlet rudiments of stamens among the wool at the base of the styles. Nuts large, broadly ovate, generally 2; flat on the inner side, and each attached by a broad scar to the bottom of the greatly enlarged outer calyx, the outside of which is copiously armed with complicated clusters of sharp prickles. (Smith.) The root descends perpendicularly, like that of the oak, but not, as it is alleged, to quite so great a depth. The rate of growth of young trees, in the neighbourhood of London, averages from 2 ft. to 3 ft. a year for the first 10 or 12 years. The tree will attain the height of from 60 ft. to 80 ft. in from 50 to 60 years; before which period its timber is generally in the highest degree of perfection; but the tree will live for several centuries afterwards, and produce abundance of fruit; its timber, in the mean while, beginning to decay at the heart, or become brittle, and fit only for fuel. In Germany, according to Willdenow, the height is from 20 ft. to 30 ft., and the duration of the tree from 50 to 100 years. In America, according to Michaux, the chestnut, in favourable situations, commonly attains the height of 70 ft. or 80 ft., with a circumference of 15 ft. or 16 ft. The oldest chestnut in England is that at Tortworth, supposed to have been planted before the Conquest; and the largest which we have ever heard of is a tree in Studley Park, of which fig. 1923. is a portrait, to the scale of 1 in. to 30 ft.; and which is 112 ft. high; the diameter of the trunk, at 1 ft. from the ground, 7 ft. 44 in., and of the head 91 ft. 6 in. By far the handsomest tree of this species in the neighbourhood of London, is that at Muswell Hill, figured in our last Volume, which is 66 ft. high, with a trunk 6 ft. in diameter at a foot from the ground, and the diameter of the head nearly 70 ft. This tree has been planted between 70 and 80 years. No tree stoles more freely than the sweet chestnut, at whatever age it may be cut over. Geography. The sweet chestnut is found in the east and west of Asia, in the north of Africa, and in North America. In the Old World its countries are more particularly Asia Minor, Armenia, and Caucasus; but it is also found in the Canaries, and in Teneriffe. It does not grow spontaneously to the north of Tereck, in the Russian empire; and it does not ripen its fruit any where except in a climate that will ripen the grape also in the open air. There are several species found in Java, Japan, Cochin-China, China, and the Himalayas; and one of these is supposed to be identical with C. vésca. (Mirbel.) In Britain, the sweet chestnut is by some considered to be indigenous; but, notwithstanding the great age of some specimens, it appears to us more than probable that they have all been planted. This doubt is noticed by Ray and Evelyn, and was warmly taken up by Daines Barrington, about the middle of the last century; and the discussions which took place between that gentleman, M. Ducarel, and some others, will be found in the Philosophical Transactions, vols. lix. and lxi.; and in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1766. (See p. 23.) In the English Flora, the chestnut is stated to be "found in woods; and it appears to be wild in the south and west of England." It has been planted in Scotland, and sometimes ripens a few fruit in the warmest districts of East Lothian. It grows vigorously in Ireland, but never ripens fruit there. In Scandinavia it is unknown. It is apparently wild in some parts of France, and still more so in Spain and Italy; though it is most probable that it was originally planted in these countries by the Romans. It abounds in the neighbourhood of Nice, and in the kingdom of Naples. It is particularly |