The Trees of Vermont 103 



BETULACEAE 



White Bircli. Gray IJircli. Old Field Birch 

 Betula populifolia Marsh. 



Habit. — A small tree 20-30 feet high, with a slender, usually 

 leaning trunk 6-10 inches in diameter; slender, somewhat contorted 

 branches clothe the trunk to the ground, forming a narrow-pyramidal, 

 open, pointed crown ; commonly growing in clusters of several trunks. 



Leaves. — Alternate, solitary or in pairs, simple, 2-3 inches long 

 and two-thirds as broad ; nearly triangular to rhombic-ovate, long- 

 pointed ; coarsely doubly serrate ; lustrous, dark green above, paler 

 beneath ; petioles long, slender, covered with black glands. Tremulous 

 with the slightest breeze. 



Flowers. — April-May, with the leaves ; monoecious ; the stam- 

 inate catkins usually solitary, 2-4 inches long, slender, pendent, yellow- 

 ish; the pistillate catkins 3^-1 inch long, erect or suberect, greenish, 

 on peduncles ^ inch long. 



Fruit. — Ripens in autumn ; slender-stalked, pubescent, erect or 

 drooping strobiles, about 1 inch long and one-third as thick ; scales 

 finely hairy ; nuts slightly narrower than their wings. 



Winter-buds. — Terminal bud absent; lateral buds ys-/4 iri^'^ lo'ig- 

 ovoid, acute, pale brown, divergent. 



Bark. — Twigs green and warty-glandular, becoming smooth and 

 red-brown ; bark of trunk close, not peeling, dull chalky-white on the 

 outer surface, with dark, triangular patches below the insertion of 

 branches, reddish yellow on the inner, becoming nearly black and shal- 

 lowly fissured at the base of old trunks. 



Wood. — Light, soft, weak, close-grained, light brown, with thick, 

 whitish sapwood. 



Distribution. — Common in the Champlain valley ; frequent in the 

 southern portion of Vermont. 



Habitat. — Poor, sandy soil ; old fields ; waste lands. 



Notes. — The white birch at best is but a small, short-lived tree, 

 but it grows in such numbers that it is sure to attract attention. 

 It never reaches sufficient size to become a valuable lumber tree, but 

 its light elastic stem always is in demand for spools, shoe-pegs, and 

 barrel-hoops. The white birch with its white trunk and graceful 

 branches and light, delicate foliage is one of our most beautiful trees, 

 but its desirability for transplanting is lessened by its short life and 

 liability to injury from storms. 



