DENDROLOGY. 125 



the midst of the forest, but is found only on the banks of rivers. 

 It expands with the greatest luxuriance on the sides of limpid 

 streams which have a gravelly bed, and whose banks are not 

 marshy like those of the rivers in the maritime parts of the 

 Carolinas and those of Georgia. 



When it has attained its greatest magnitude it is 70 feet in 

 height, and two or three feet in diameter. On the trunk and on 

 the largest limbs of a lofty red birch, the bark is thick, deeply 

 furrowed, and of a greenish color. On trees not exceeding 

 eight or ten inches in diameter, the epidermis is reddish or 

 cinnamon-colored ; whence probably is derived the appropriate 

 denomination of Red Birch. The epidermis of this species, 

 like that of the canoe birch, divides itself transversally into thin, 

 transparent sheets, which appear to be composed of a mixed 

 substance, instead of presenting a pure, homogeneous texture ; 

 hence they have not an uniform transparency, nor a perfectly 

 even surface : compared with the bark of the canoe birch, they 

 are like coarse paper compared with fine. When this tree is 

 fully expanded, its summit is ample, but the uncommon thickness 

 of its branches prevents it from appearing tufted. The twigs 

 which form the extremity of the tree, are long, flexible and 

 pendulous, and the limbs are of a brown complexion spotted with 

 white : their bark is slightly uneven, while, on the other branches, 

 it is smooth and glossy. The petioles of this tree are short and 

 downy ; the leaves are about three inches long and two inches 

 broad, of a light green on the upper surface, and whitish beneath : 

 they are doubly denticulated at the edge, very acuminate at the 

 summit, and terminated at the base in an acute angle, more 

 regular than is seen in the leaf of any other tree. The fertile 

 aments are five or six inches long, straight and nearly cylindrical. 

 The seeds are ripe in the beginning of June. 



The wood of the red birch is sufficiently compact and nearly 

 white : very little difference in color is observed between the sap 

 and heart. This wood offers the same singularity with that of 

 the June berry, being longitudinally marked by red vessels, 

 which intersect each other in different directions. This wood 

 is employed for bowls, trays and brooms : it is also employed 



