The Trees of Vermont 99 



BETULACEAE 



Cherry Birch. Sweet Birch. Black Birch 



Betula lenta L. 



Habit. — A medium-sized tree 50-75 feet high, with a trunk di- 

 ameter of 1-3 feet; slender, wide-spreading, pendulous branches, form- 

 ing a narrow, rounded, open crown. 



Leaves. — Alternate in pairs, simple, 3-4 inches long and one-half 

 as broad ; outline variable, ovate to oblong-ovate ; sharply doubly 

 serrate, with slender, incurved teeth ; dull, dark green above, light 

 yellow-green beneath ; petioles short, stout, hairy, deeply grooved 

 above ; aromatic. 



Flowers. — April-May, before the leaves ; monoecious ; the stamin- 

 ate catkins 3-4 inches long, slender, pendent, yellowish ; the pistillate 

 catkins ^--)4 inch long, erect or suberect, greenish. 



Fruit. — Ripens in autumn ; sessile, glabrous, erect strobiles, 1- 

 I3X inches long and half as thick; scales glabrous; nuts slightly broader 

 than their wings. 



Winter-buds. — Terminal bud absent; lateral buds about Y^ inch 

 long, conical, sharp-pointed, red-brown, divergent. 



Bark. — Twigs light green, becoming lustrous, red-brown in their 

 first winter ; very dark on old trunks, cleaving ofif in thick, irregular 

 plates. Resembles bark of black cherry. Inner bark aromatic, spicy. 



Wood. — Heavy, very hard and strong, close-grained, dark red- 

 brown, with thin, lighter colored sapwood. 



Distribution. — Frequent in western Vermont to the foot-hills of 

 the Green mountains and known in the Connecticut valley as far north 

 as Hartford. 



Habitat. — Rich woodlands of the lower altitudes. 



Notes. — The distinctive characters of this tree are well known to 

 many Vermonters, who, as children, have become familiar with the 

 sweet wintergreen flavor of bark and leaves. It is common in western 

 Vermont, but reaches only the foothills of the Green mountains. Its 

 northern limit in the Connecticut valley is in the vicinity of Norwich. 

 Two kinds of catkins are noticeable upon the bare trees in winter ; and 

 they open on the first spring days, before most other trees have made 

 a visible response to the sun's rays. The wood is valuable for furni- 

 ture and fuel. 



