2014

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

I * 3. C. ( B .) orienta'lis Lam.

The Oriental Hornbeam.

Identification. Lara. Encyc., 1. p. 700.; Willd. Sp. PI. , 4. p. 468. ; N. Du Ham.,2. p. 199.

Synonyme. C. duinensis Scop. Cam., t. 60.

Engravings. Scop. Cam., t. 60.; Dend. Brit., t. 98. j and ourfig- 1937.

Spec. Char., fyc. Bracteas of the fruit ovate,unequal at the base, undivided, somewhatangular, unequally serrated. {Willd.) Alow tree or shrub, growing to the heightof 12 ft.; a native of Asia Minor and theLevant. Introduced in 1739. The Easternhornbeam is a dwarf tree, rarely risingabove 10 ft. or 12 ft. in height. As itshoots out into numerous widely spreading,horizontal, irregular branches, it cannot bereadily trained up with a straight cleartrunk. The leaves are much smaller thanthose of the common hornbeam, and thebranches grow closer together; so that it iseven still better adapted for forming aclipped hedge than that species. It wasintroduced by Miller, in 1739; but, thoughit is very hardy, and easily propagated bylayers, it has never been much cultivatedin our nurseries. There are plants atMessrs. Loddiges’s.

Statistics. In Yorkshire, at Grimston, 14 years planted, it is 25 ft high. In Austria, at Vienna ,in Rosenthal’s Nursery, 16 years planted, it is 12 ft. high. In Bavaria, at Munich , in the Englishgarden, 14 years planted, it is 15 ft. hi^h. In Italy, at Monza , 24 years old, it is 26 ft. high, diameterof the trunk 9 in., and of the head 20 tt. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 2 s. fid. each.

App. i. Species or Varieties of Carpinus not yet introduced intoEuropean Gardens.

Carpinus (B.) Carpinlzza Hort. FI. Aust., 2., p. 626 Leaves crenately serrated; scales of thestrobiles revolute, 3-cleft; the middle segment the longest, and quite entire. A native of the woodsof Transylvania . The Transylvanians distinguished this sort from C. .Ztetulus, and call it Carpinizza.

C. mmlnea Lindl.,Wall. PI. As. Rar., 1.106.,

Royle Illust., p. 341., and our fig. 1938., hasthe leaves ovate-lanceolate, much acuminated,doubly serrated j petioles and branclilets gla-brous; bracteas fruit-bearing, ovate-oblong,laciniateat the base, somewhat 1 entire at theapex, bluntish. ( Lindl. MSS.) A native ofthe mountains of Nepal , in Sirmore andKamaon; and, according to Royle, on Mus-souree, at the height of 6500 ft. above the levelof the sea; flowering and fruiting from Janu-ary to April. “This fine tree is very like thecommon alder. Its wood is considered dur-able, and is used for ordinary building purposesby the natives of Nepal . The slender pendu-lous branches are frequently attacked by a sortof. coccus, which produces numerous elevatedtubercles, or warts. The structure of the nutresembles that of C. Rctulus, as described andfigured by Gartner , except in the followingrespect:—The cavity is filled with what ap-pears tome an entire and homogeneous, fleshy,almost colourless substance, exceedingly like aperisperm; in which are suspended, towardsthe apex of the seed, two minute embryones.

It is possible, that, notwithstanding the mostcareful and repeated examination, I may havemistaken the cotyledons of the ripe seed for a perisperm ; but I have invariably seen two minuteembryones lodged within the upper end of the fleshy substance which fills the nut.” {Wall. PI- As.Rar t. 106.) From the elevation at which this tree grows, it will probably be found hardy inBritish gardens.

C. f aginea Lindl., Wall. PI. As. Rar., 2. p.5., has the leaves ovate-oblong, acute, sharply serrated,and glabrous; petioles and branchlets downy; bracteas fruit-bearing, somewhat rhomboid, withlarge teeth, acute, reticulated. It is nearly allied to C. orientalis, but differs in the form and marginof the leaf, and in the bracteas. {Wall. FU As. Rar 2. p. 5.)