American Forestry 



VOL. XXII 



APRIL, 1916 



No. 268 



The Birches 



By Samuel B. Detwiler 



"The birch, most shy and ladyhke of trees" — Lowell. 



■X. 



THE birches are among the most graceful of our 

 trees. At all seasons they possess a quiet charm 

 that seldom fails to win the admiration of the 

 lover of nature. Besides being highly prized for orna- 

 mental purposes, several kinds furnish wood valuable 

 for lumber and many other uses. Birch bark supplies 

 a fragrant oil employed by the Russians in tanning 

 leather; the oil is also used for medicinal purposes and 

 flavoring. Birch beer, made from the sweet sap of some 

 species, is a palatable drink. Thick sheets of birch bark 

 served the Indians for canoes, shoes, boxes and cover- 

 ings for their lodges. The bark burns readily, and is 

 used by the woodsman to start camp fires, and for torches. 

 Thin layers of bark are sometimes tised for paper ; 

 twenty-three hundred years ago the books of Numa 

 Pompilius are said to have been writ- 

 ten on birch bark. 



Superstitious persons in times 

 past have relied on the powers of the 

 birch tree to guard them from 

 lightning, wounds, gout, caterpillars 

 and "the evil eye." Many a country 

 schoolboy who has been commis- 

 sioned to a cut a switch for his own 

 punishment "from that sour tree of 

 knowledge — now a birch," may not 

 have appreciated the fact that this 

 is a time-honored use of this tree. 

 There is a legend that one dwarf 

 variety never regained its size after 

 Christ was beaten with sticks which 

 it furnished. The Russian believes 

 the birch tree to be a symbol of good 

 health, and in taking a sweat bath, 

 he is flogged with birch switches 

 until he perspires. 



The birches, except one South 

 American species, are inhabitants of 

 cool, northern regions and several 

 kinds, as shrubs, reach the borders 

 of the Arctic Circle. About thirty- 

 five species are found in various 

 parts of the world, and fifteen are 



WHITE BIRCH LEAF 



The 



native to North America. Of the latter, nine develop into 

 trees and six grow only as shrubs. 



Paper birch (Betida papyrifera), often called canoe 

 birch, white birch or silver birch, is usually less than 

 75 feet high and 18 inches in diameter. It is 

 one of the few trees of our country that grows 

 from coast to coast. Botanists distinguish several forms 

 of this species; one variety or another is found from 

 Labrador to Alaska and south to Pennsylvania, .Mich- 

 igan, Colorado and Washington. It grows on moist 

 slopes, and bordering lakes and streams. When not 

 crowded, it has an open, irregular, rounded head, but 

 in the forest the top is small and the stems straight and 

 clear. The surface of the bark is chalky-white and can 

 be separated into parchment-like sheets. The inner bark 

 is darker, usually a cinnamon color 

 when fresh, but blackened after long 

 exposure. The white outer bark, 

 once removed, never forms again, 

 and the beauty of the tree is marred; 

 if a thick layer of bark is peeled, 

 exposing the sapwood, the tree dies. 

 Because of its thin bark, paper birch 

 is very easily killed by fire. 



The paper birch is the "glad" tree 

 of the northern woods because it 

 brightens and brings cheer to the 

 dark places of the forest. Wherever 

 it grows it adds the crowning touch 

 of beauty. Its white bark gleams 

 in striking contrast against a back- 

 ground of evergreens, but to learn the 

 magic spell of this tree one must go 

 deep into the woods and watch the 

 wonderful play of light and shadow 

 as the sunlight of a clear summer 

 day ripples through the foliage. 



The scientific name of white birch 

 (Bctitla popitlifolia) means the 

 poplar-leaved birch ; this name is 

 given because its leaves continually 

 flutter in the slightest breeze, like 

 those of the poplars. It is called old 



195 



•?v^ 



v/ 



leaves of all species of birch are very mucli 

 alike. They occur singly or in pairs, but never 

 stand opposite each other. They are like an 

 arrow head in shape and have saw-tootched 

 edges. 



