1950

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III-

A. Cupule muricate, capsuliform. Ovaries included. Young leaves plicate.

Natives of Europe, and of North and South America,a. Species in Cultivation in British Gardens.

S 1. F. sylva'tica L. The Wood, or common, Beech.

Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., HIS.; Hort. Cliff, 447.; FI. Suec., 785. 871.; Roy. Lugdb., 79.Mat.Med., 203.: Du Roi Harbk., 1. p. 203.; Pollich. Pall., No. 910.; Willd. Arb.,113.; Willd. Sp. PI.,4 . p. 459.; Hofl'm. Germ., 339.; Roth. Germ., 1. p. 409., 2. p. 489 ; Pall. Ross., 2. p. 5.; Vill. Dauph.,3. p. 796.; N. Du Ham., 2. p. 79. j Br. FI., 1. p. 408.; Eng. Bot., t. 1846.; Eng. FI., 4. p. 152.;Hook. Br. FI., ed. 3., p. 411.; Mackay FI. Hibern., p. 254.; Lindl. Synop., p. 239.

Synonymes. Castanea Fagus Scop. Cam ., No. 1188.; Fk gus Bauh. Pin., 419 , Cam. Epit., 112.,Matth., 205., Dod., 832., Ger., 1255., Ger. Emac., 1444., Park. Thcat., 1403., Bauh. Hist., 1.p. 118. Baii Hist., 1381., Synop., 439.; F. sylvestris Michx. N. Amer., 3. t. 107., Oxya, Greek ;Fagus, Lat. ; Hetre commun, Fr. j gemeine Buche, Ger. ; Rood-beuke, Dutch.

Engravings. Eng. Bot., t 1846. j N. Du Ham., t. 24. j and the plate of this tree in our last Volume.

Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves ovate, glabrous, obsoletely dentate; ciliate on theirmargins. (Willd.) A tree, varying from 60 ft. to 100 ft. in height; wild invarious parts of Europe; and one variety in North America.

Varieties.

i F. s. % purpurea Ait. Hort. Kew., v. p. 297., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; F.s. 2 atro-riibens F)u Roi; lletre noir Fr.; the purple Beech ; has thebuds and young shoots of a rose colour. The leaves, when half-de-veloped, are of a cherry red; and, when fully matured, at midsummer,of so dark a purple, as to appear almost black. It is to be observedof this variety, that the bark, not only of the young shoots, but evenof the old wood, and of the trunk of the tree, partakes strongly of thesame dark colour as the leaves. In early spring, when the leaves of thepurple beech are agitated by the wind, during bright sunshine, theirclear red gives the tree the appearance of being on fire; an effect,Bose observes, so truly magical, that it is scarcely credible by thosewho have not seen it. The red or purple colour of this varietyvaries in degree of intensity in different individuals; partly from thesehaving been raised from seeds, and partly from the influence of soiland situation. The purple beech is a native of Germany, where itwas discovered by accident in a wood, according to some, betweenthe middle and the latter end of the last century; and the originaltree is said to be still standing. From this tree all the purple beechesin Europe have been produced; partly from seeds (see Gard. Mag.,vol. x. p. 180.), but chiefly by grafting. The seeds, in general, comeup tolerably true; though in some the shade of purple is very faint,and in others the leaves are quite green. The different shades ofpurple have given rise to several subvarieties, which are kept distinctby some nurserymen; but none that we have seen are worth notice,except what is called the copper-coloured beech. In general, thepurple beech is propagated by budding or grafting on the commonbeech; but sometimes it is increased by layers, which require twoyears to become properly rooted, and, it is said, never make suchvigorous trees as grafted ones; doubtless, from the greater vigour ofthe stock in the latter case. Michaux the younger informed Bosethat there was a purple beech in Belgium which ripened seeds, andthat from these seeds several subvarieties had been produced, and,among others, the copper beech, before mentioned. The largestspecimens of the purple beech are, probably, in Germany; though wehave not been able to hear of any on the Continent higher thanbetween 30 ft. and 40 ft., with the exception of two; the one atHarbke, in Brunswick, which, in 1835, was 70 ft. high, with a trunk2 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and had been planted upwards of 60 years.It produces on an average, 20 lbs. of mast yearly, which sells at 2dollars per lb. The other tree is near Antwerp, in the gardenof M. Smetz, at Deurne, and is thus described in Neill’s Hor-ticultural Tour, as seen by the Deputation of the Caledonian