combined industry the tree or bush is soon despoiled of its load.
All the many varieties of Filberts, Kentish-Cobs, Spanish-nuts, and Barcelona-nuts are but varieties of Corylus avellana.
The name is from the Greek, Korus, a helmet, from the form of the involucre.
The Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus).
It is in our experience that though many townsmen think they
know the Beech there are comparatively few of them that
cannot be deceived into accepting the Hornbeam as
Fagus sylvatica. It must be admitted that there is a strong
superficial resemblance to a small Beech; but on closer examination
it will be found that the differences are greater than the
likeness. The Hornbeam has a light-grey smooth bark, but
instead of the very round trunk of the Beech, that of the
Hornbeam appears to have been laterally squeezed, for the
diameter taken one way is longer or shorter than if taken at
right angles to the first measurement. Then again the leaf of
Carpinus if placed upon that of Fagus will be found to bs
much less rotund in proportion to its length; the surface is
rough, and instead of the cleanly cut margins of Fagus we
have a coarse double-toothing.
The Hornbeam when full-grown is a much smaller tree than the Beech, rarely exceeding seventy feet in height, with a trunk circumference of ten feet; whereas the Beech reaches a height of considerably over a hundred feet, with a girth of nearly thirty feet. When naturally grown, too, it is by no means so picturesque as the Beech, but in places where it is most plentiful, as in Essex, especially Epping Forest, it is generally pollarded, and seldom allowed to exhibit its true form.
The male flowers form a pendulous catkin, originating in the axils, and each consisting of an egg-shaped bract, holding
