The simple, oval _leaves_ are 3 to 4 inches long, pointed at the tip and coarsely toothed along the margin. When mature, they are almost leathery in texture. The beech produces a dense shade. The _winter buds_ are long, slender and pointed. The little, brown, three-sided beech-nuts are almost as well known as chestnuts. They form usually in pairs in a prickly bur. The kernel is sweet and edible, but so small as to offer insufficient reward for the pains of biting open the thin-shelled husk. The _wood_ of the beech is very hard, strong, and tough, though it will not last long on exposure to weather or in the soil. It is used to some extent for furniture, flooring, carpenter's tools, and novelty wares and extensively in southern Illinois for railroad ties and car stock. The American chestnut, _Castanea dentata_ Borkh., extends its range from Maine to Michigan, and southward to Delaware and Tennessee. There is a stand of chestnuts in Pulaski County and some trees have been planted in the southern part of the State. They are easily recognized by their alternate simple, broadly lanceolate coarsely toothed leaves, and their prickly burs about 2 inches in diameter containing 1-3 nuts. A KEY TO THE OAKS OF ILLINOIS A. Leaves without bristle tips; bark gray; acorns maturing at the end of 1 season; white oaks. B. Leaves lobed. C. Acorn-cup not enclosing the acorn. D. Acorn-cup shallow, warted Q. alba DD. Acorn-cup covering 1/2 of the acorn Q. stellata CC. Acorn-cup enclosing the acorn. D. Acorn-cup not fringed Q. lyrata DD. Acorn-cup fringed Q. macrocarpa BB. Leaves not lobed, coarsely toothed. C. Acorn-stalked. D. Acorn-stalks longer than petioles Q. bicolor DD. Acorn-stalks short E. Acorn-cup flat-bottomed; bark like that of white oak Q. prinus EE. Acorn-cup deep; bark like that of red oak Q. montana CC. Acorns sessile, cup deep Q. muhlenbergii