ALNUS RUGOSA (Du Roi) Sprengel. Smooth Alder. (× 1/2.)
FAGÀCEAE. The Beech Family.
Trees with simple, alternate, petioled leaves; flowers of two kinds; fruit a one-seeded nut. This is the most important family of trees occurring in the State.
| Winter buds long and slender, at least 4 times as long as wide; staminate flowers in globose heads on drooping peduncles; nuts sharply 3-angled | [1 Fagus.] |
| Winter buds not long and slender and less than 4 times as long as wide; staminate flowers in slender catkins; nuts not as above. | |
| Staminate catkins erect or spreading; nut flattened on one side and enclosed in a spiny, woody husk | [2 Castanea.] |
| Staminate catkins drooping; nuts not flattened on one side, seated in a scaly, woody cup | [3 Quercus.] |