Order 3. =Cupuliferæ.= Monœcious. The inflorescences make their appearance with the leaves, arising in the axils of the leaves of the same year. _A woody cupule_ furnished externally with scales or spines is _common_, and surrounds 1-several flowers (the cupule in the Corylaceæ never encloses more than a _single_ flower or fruit). The ♂-flower has a united perianth, which is, however, 4–6 partite, and encloses an indefinite number of undivided stamens. The ♀-flower has a _superior, 6-merous_ perianth (3 + 3, compare Figs. 332 _D_, 334); the gynœceum is formed of 3 (or in _Castanea_ 4–6) carpels with a corresponding number of stigmas (Figs. 332 _D_, _H_; 334, 335); and the ovary has at the base 3 (-6) loculi (Fig. 333), each of which has 2 pendulous anatropous ovules; the fruit is a one-seeded nut (Figs. 332 _H_, 336). The cupule of the Cupuliferæ, according to the opinion of Eichler, is formed by united bracteoles, (compare Fig. 333, where the four valves in the cupule of Castanea are considered as bracteoles of the lateral flowers of the dichasium); according to another view (see Prantl, in Engler’s _Bot. Jahrb._, viii., 1889), it is a ring-like axial outgrowth independent of the bracteoles of the flower, whose scales and spines are floral-leaves. The cupule in the Oak only encloses the base of the fruit, but in the Eating-chestnut and Beech the fruit is completely enclosed, and consequently the cupule must divide into a number of valves (generally 4) to allow the fruit to escape. In the 3-flowered dichasia of _Pasania_, Sect. Eupasania (Trop. Ind.), each individual flower has its own cupule of the same structure and development as in _Quercus_; and, moreover, each group of flowers has externally the typical six bracteoles. [Illustration: FIG. 332.--_Castanea vesca_: _A_ branch with inflorescences; _B_ ♂-flower; _C_ young cupule with three ♀-flowers; _D_ ♀-flower; _E_ the same in longitudinal section; _F_ cupule with 3 nuts (diminished); _G_, _H_ nuts (_G_ in longitudinal section to show embryo).]