42B BKTrL.vn^T:. (niiicii i vmii.v.) 



Dni]io ol)Ionp, ohtiiso, nnrrowcd at the ba<(' : o])ioftri) tliii-k, roriarcous, Bmoofh ; 

 I'ndofiirp cTUstuceous. Allmiiion none. Kinlnyo laij;c', (illiii;j; ilic cell. Coty- 

 li'<lons oviil, eonipressod. Kailicle superior. — A stout sliriih, 2°-(J° liis'i, with 

 Hoft wood and smooth lii^lit-hrown hark, without resinous dots, liranehes sliort 

 and thick, hoary-i)uhcscent when young. Leaves oblong or obovate-ohlong (4'- 

 G' long), aeutc at eaeh end, entire, smooth and shining above, hoarj'-tomcntoso 

 beneath, straight-veined, on long spreading or recurved hoary petioles, decidu- 

 ous. Stipules none. Aments developed before the leaves, from tlio axils of the 

 preceding year, the sterile ones 1'- 1^' long, the fertile G"-8'' long. Drape ^' 

 long, green, slightly curved. 



1. L. Floridana. — Salt or brackish marshes, Apalachicola, Florida. — 

 Feb. and March. 



Orpkr 130. BETULACE.IE. (Birch Family.) 



Trees or shrubs, w-lth alternate simple straight-veined leaves, deciduous 

 stipules, and monoecious amentaceous ilowers. placed 2- '3 together in the 

 axil of a 3-lobed bract. Stamens 4 : fifaments distinct. Ovary 2-celled, 

 with a single suspended anatropous ovule in each cell. Stigmas 2, elon- 

 gated. Fruit a Avinged or angled 1-celled 1 -seeded nut, forming, with the 

 imbricated persistent bracts, a cone-like spike. 



1. BETULA, Tonrn. Birch. 



Sterile aments drooping. Bracts 3-flowcrcd, 2-bractcolate, peltate. Calyx 

 scale-like. Stamens short : anthers 1-cclled. Fertile aments ol)loiig or cylin- 

 drical. Bracts 3-flowcred. Calyx none. Stigmas filiform. Nut broadly winged. 

 Cotyledons oblong. — Trees or shrubs, with the enter bark often separable into 

 thin papery sheets. Leaves petioled, serrate. Fruiting bracts membranaceous. 



1. B. nigra, L. (Black Birch.) Leaves rhombic-ovate, acute, doubly 

 serrate, smooth above, hoary-tomentose beneath, like the short petioles and 

 branchlets, becoming rusty or smoothish ; sterile aments long and drooping ; 

 the fertile ones oblong, short-pcdunclcd, with the woolly bracts cleft into three 

 linear-oblong nearly equal lobes. (B. rubra, Michx.) — Banks of rivci-s, Florida, 

 and northward. March. — A middle-sized tree, with reddish-brown bark, and 

 long spreading branches. 



2. B. excelsa, Ait. (Yellow Birch.) Leaves ovate or olilong-ovate, 

 acuminate, unequally and doubly serrate, pubescent, like the branchlets, when 

 young, at length smooth on both sides, on short pubescent petioles ; fruiting 

 aments oval-oblong ; lobes of the bracts nearly equal, slightly spreading and 

 hairy, acute. (B. lutea, Michx.) — Mountains of North Carolina, and north- 

 ward. March and April. — A tree 40° - GO" high, with yellowish bark. Leaves 

 2' -3' long. 



3. B. lenta, L. (Cherry Birch.) Branchlets smooth ; leaves ovate or 

 oblong-ovate, acute, cordate, finely and doubly seiTatc, silky when young, at 



