1913] The Ottawa Naturalist. 33 



the most characteristic of the family. Its wood is so valuable 

 that possibly it has become exterminated in this locality. It 

 ought to be replanted, especially in the large parks at Rockcliffe 

 or Britannia, or if the Government provide for a National Park. 

 It appears to be spreading on Mount Royal Park at Montreal. 

 No doubt the fruit would be appreciated both by squirrels and 

 boys. The bark of this tree is characteristic and peculiar. It 

 breaks up into oblong plates, the ends of which curve outwards, 

 while they cling at the centre. This peels off easily, hence the 

 name, shell-bark or shag-bark. 



Betulace*. 

 (Including the Birches and the Hornbeams.) 



Of the Birches the most ornamental and therefore the most 

 valuable are the cut -leaved and pendulous or weeping varieties. 

 How many varieties there are, I am not prepared to say, but 

 they all seem related to B. alba or B. populifolia. Of course these 

 beautiful varieties are of use only on lawns, but they are fairly 

 common about the city. Their lower limbs come too low for 

 them to be used along the street line, to say nothing of how much 

 and how quicklv they would be ruined by horses and passers-bv. 



The Common White Birch, B. populifolia, 9 is common at 

 Rockcliffe, and is too easily recognized to need description. 



The Yellow Birch, B. lutea, also'grows at Rockcliffe, but is 

 much less common. It prefers rich, moist'woodland. There are 

 several trees in the hollow near'where the new artesian well has 

 been sunk. This is a beautiful tree in' its native haunts. The 

 bark of the trunk is of a yellowish or silver-grey color, which 

 detaches horizontally in thin filmy layers which curl up like 

 ribbons. In the spring the inner bark is a rich golden yellow. 

 The catkins are upright, sessile, and very short in proportion 

 to their breadth. 



Of the Ironwoods the Hop Hornbeam, Ostrya Virginiana, 

 is the onlv species, so far as I know, that is represented in the city. 

 There is one on Gladstone Ave. near Metcalfe St., and several in 

 Major Hill Park on the bank overlooking the pond. It is a tree 

 that is more conspicuous and beautiful in the winter than in the 

 summer, although the peculiar hop-like strobiles on the terminal 

 twigs mav attract the attention of some. But in the winter, 

 and when standing all alone, then the tiny graceful birch-like 

 twigs, tipped with bunches of two or three upright catkins, 

 appear in all their native beauty. The trunk also is characteristic. 

 It gives the appearance of strength. The bark is grey and split 

 into numerous parti v exfoliated strips, much narrower and 

 tinier than on any other tree. 



