Seventy-five to one hundred feet in height, five to twelve feet in diameter. Fine characteristic shape, not easily distinguished from Red Oak in winter. Blossoms in midsummer. Prickly burrs contain three thin-shelled nuts. Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood. Heartwood brown, sapwood lighter, coarse-grained. Structural Qualities of Wood. Light, soft, not strong, liable to check and warp in drying. Easily split. Very durable in exposed positions. Representative Uses of Wood. Cabinet-making, railway ties, posts, fencing, sills. Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot. 28. Modulus of Elasticity. 1,200,000. Modulus of Rupture. 9800. Remarks. The nuts of the foreign species (_C. vesca_) as well as those of the domestic species are much prized. The former are larger and the latter sweeter. One of the latest trees to blossom. [p059] CHINQUAPIN. _Castanea pumila (Linn.) Mill._ Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) Chinquapin (Del., N. J., Pa., Va., W. Va., N. C., S. C., Ga., Ala., Fla., Miss., La., Tex., Ark., Ohio, Ky., Mo., Mich.). Locality. Pennsylvania to Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri, Michigan. Features of Tree. A small tree, sometimes forty-five feet in height, one to two feet or over in diameter. Sometimes reduced to low shrub. Small prickly burr with single small chestnut-colored nut. Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood. Heartwood dark brown, sapwood hardly distinguishable. Coarse-grained, annual layers marked by rows of open ducts. Structural Qualities of Wood. Rather heavy, hard, strong. Durable in exposed positions. Liable to check in drying. Representative Uses of Wood. Posts, rails, railway ties, etc. Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot. 36. Modulus of Elasticity. 1,620,000. Modulus of Rupture. 14,000. Remarks. [p060] FOOTNOTE The Chinquapin Castanopsis chrysophylla, is a tree with characteristics between oak and chestnut. Its wood is nearly similar to that of the Chinquapin Castanea pumila, and is sometimes used for implements. BEECH. IRONWOOD. (_Fagus_.) (_Carpinus, Ostrya, etc._) Beech is well known on the eastern continent. The common beech (_Fagus atropunicea_) is the only American representative. Eastern species have figured in literature since the time of Virgil. The northern nations early wrote upon thin tablets of beechwood, and _boc_, _bok_, and _buche_, the northern names for beech, finally gave origin to the word book.[38] American Indians believed that the beech was proof against lightning. [Illustration: BEECH (_Fagus atropunicea_).]