CHAP. CV.
CORYLA CEjE. Fa'GUS.
1949
Q. microphylla Willd., No. 7., Nee in An. Cien. Nat., 3. p. 264., Fisch, Misc. Hisp., 1. p. 99.,N. Du Ham., 7. p. 152., Hees’aCycl, No. 7. Leaves lanceolate, pointed, entire, villous; downy beneath.Calyx of the fruit villous. Nut roundish. ( Willd.\ Found by Louis Nee in the hills of Arambaro, inNew Spain. A shrub, from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high, with a rough ash-coloured bark. Leaves on shortstalks, scattered, numerous, from 4 to 6 lines Jong, scarcely 2 lines broad; veiny, revolute, wavy,pointed, reddish grey; villous above, densely downy beneath; those about the extremities of thebranches opposite. Stipules awl-shaped, falling off at the end of summer. Acorns in axillary pairsabout the ends of the branches, ovate, the size of a large pea, half-covered by the villous cup, whichis invested with unequal sides. {Nee, as quoted in Rees's Cycl.) Humboldt compares the young leavesof his <2. mexic&na to this species. (See p. 1943.) He also states that the young shoots of Q. rep&nda(p. 1942.) agree with the description of those of Q. microphylla ; but he adds that he had not seenNee’s plant.
Q. lobdta Willd., No. 70., Nee in Ann. Cien. Nat., 3. p. 237., Fisch. Misc. Hisp., 1. p. 116., N.Du Ham., 7. p. 180., Rees’s Cycl., No. 76. Leaves obovate, wedge-shaped, sinuated, smooth ; lobestoothed. {Willd.) Native of New Spain. Branches furrowed, alternate. Leaves 4 in. long, 2| in.wide, smooth, alternate; orbicular towards the extremity ; wedge-shaped at the lower part; sinuated;the lobes rounded, obtuse, toothed. Footstalks slender, 3 or 4 lines in length. {Nee, as quoted inRees's Cycl.)
Q. magnoli&fblia Willd., No. 16., Nee in An. Cien . Nat., 3- p.268., Fisch. Misc. Hisp., 1.p. 103., N. Du Ham., 7. p. 154., Smith i nRees's\Cycl., No. 18. Leaves ovate-oblong, coriaceous, entire,shining; downy beneath ; somewhat emarginate at the base. Fruit racemose. {Willd.) Found byLouis Nee in tne kingdom of Mexico , between Chilpancingo and Tixtaia, and about the river Azul.This is an elegant tree, 20 ft. or more in height. Trunk thick, with a dark-coloured bark, full offissures. Branches horizontal; younger ones furrowed, and dotted with white. Leaves 6 in. or 8 in.long, and 3 in. broad ; ovate, rigid ; sometimes emarginate at the base ; green and shining above ;downy beneath, with the larger veins prominent, and the smaller reticulated. Footstalks thick, aline in length. Stipules crisped, downy, deciduous. Female clusters solitary, axillary, 2 in. long ; thelower ones alternate, upper opposite. Acorns ovate, half.covered by a hemispherical cup, which is thesize of the seed of Dicer arietlnum, and has 'its scales scarcely at all imbricated. {Nee, as quoted inRees's Cycl.) This is closely allied to Q. Ifitea, which, indeed, Humboldt considers as the same species;and to Q. crassifolia Humb. et Bony., p.1946. It has also a great affinity with (l. stipularis (p.1945.);but differs in the disposition of its fruit.
Q. lutea Willd., No. 17., Nee in An. Cien. Nat., 3, p. 269., Fisch. Misc. Hisp., 1. p. 105., N.Du Ham., 7- p. 155., Smith in Rees’s Cycl., No. 19. The yellow-leaved Mexican oak. Leaves obovate,entire, shining ; somewhat heart-shaped at the base; downy and yellow beneath. Fruit racemose.{Willd.) Native of Mexico . This agrees with (l. magnol icefblia in its growth and fructification ;insomuch that it may be thought a variety: yet the leaves are very different. They are ofalargersize, broader towards the end, and contracted towards the footstalk ; as well as more deeply emar-ginate at the base ; and their under side is covered with ochry yellow pubescence. {Rees's Cycl.)Humboldt considers this the same species as Q. m&g'aoliczfdlia, and very closely allied to his Q.crassifblia (p. 1940.).
Q. s aUctfblia Willd., No. 8., Nee in An. Cien. Nat., 3. p. 265., Fisch. Misc. Hisp., 1. p. 101., N.Du Ham., 7. p. 152., Rees’s Cycl., No. 8. The Willow-leaved Mexican Oak. Leaves oblong-lanceolate,entire, smooth ; the forks of the veins villous and brown beneath. Nut oblong. {Willd) Found byLouis Nee in the kingdom of Mexico, near Acapulco . A tree. 28 ft. high, with alternate branches ;the young ones somewhat furrowed, and clothed with brownish red hairs. Leaves from 5 in. to 7 in.long, 1 in. wide, scattered on short stalks, rather coriaceous, smooth, veiny, entire, wavy, pointed ;reticulated and green above; yellowish beneath, with tufts of hairs, as big as a pin’s head, in theforks of the veins. Acorns nearly sessile, in axillary pairs, the size of a hazel nut; downy, half-coveredby the hemispherical, greyish, villous cup; beset with very thin scales. {Nee, as quoted in Rees'sCycl.)
Genus II.
-FA'GUS L. Tbe Beech. Lin. Si/st. Monce'cia Polyandria.
Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 1072.; Reich., 1170. ; Schreb., 1448.; Gasttn., t. 37-; Juss., 409.;
Tourn., 351; Willd. Sp. PI., 1694.; N. Du Ham., 2. p. 79.; Ait. Hort. Kew., 5. p. 297.
Synonymes. According to Bauhin , the Fagus of the Romans, and the Oxua of the Greeks; Cast&neaTourn., 352., Mill. Diet. , f. 84.; Hetre, Fr. ; Buche, Get. ; Beuke, Dutch ; Bog, Dan. ; Bok, Swcd. ;Buk, Russ, and Pol. ; Faggio, Hal. ; Haya, Span. ; Faya, Port.
Derivation. Fromphago, to eat; because the nuts were used as food in the early ages.
Desciiption, cfc. Large and handsome deciduous trees; natives of Europe ,and of North and South America, and Australia . The wood is used forvarious purposes; but more especially in cabinet-making, joinery, and turnery.The fruit affords food for swine, and supports squirrels and various wild ani-mals : it also yields a valuable oil. Plants are almost always raised fromseed, except in the case of varieties. Linnteus united the genus Castanea with^ agus, which was not done by any botanist before his time, and which hasnot been adopted by many of the moderns. The distinctive characteristics ofthe two genera are, that Castanea has the male flowers on very long cat-kins, with the seeds farinaceous; while Pagus, on the contrary, has the maleflowers on globular catkins, and the seeds oily. M. Mirbel, who has revisedthe generic character of the beech, so as to include in it the South Ameri-can and Australian species, has arranged them iri two sections, which arrange-ment we shall here adopt.