194 The Flora of Wiltshire. 
« Alderbury,” Mr. James Hussey. Avery local plant, and at present 
confined to the South-eastern extremity of the county. Stem upright, 
bushy, 3 or 4 feet high. Leaves alternate on short stalks, obovate- 
lanceolate, green and smooth on both sides, covered with resinous 
dots, which emit a delightful fragrance when bruised. Cathins 
numerous, sessile, erect. Berries very small. 
Bzruta, (Liny.) Bircw. 
Linn. Cl. xxi. Ord. vii. 
Name. Derived from betu, the Celtic name for the birch (death 
in Gaelic.) 
1. B. alba, (Linn.) white or common Birch. Engl. Bot. ¢. 2198. 
B. glutinosa, Fries. 
Locality. In woods, especially in moist heathy situations, fre- 
quently cultivated. Tree Fl. April, May, before the leaves are fully 
out. Area, 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. In all the Districts, but by no meaus 
generally distributed.! One of the most hardy of trees, conspicuous 
in plantations for its white scaly cuticle, and when old, for the deep 
black clefts of its dart. Branches sub-divided, long, slender, pliant, 
and flexible, covered, when young, with a short, close down. Leaves 
alternate, egg-shaped, or slightly triangular, pointed, unequally or 
rather doubly serrated, smooth above, a little downy beneath ; 
assuming a golden colour in autumn. Cathins terminal, stalked, 
pendulous; the barren flowered ones appear in the autumn at the 
ends of the twigs, but do not expand their flowers till the fertile 
ones appear in the Spring, these when ripe fall all to pieces, and 
scatter the numerous winged seeds. As an ornamental tree in land- 
scape gardening, the Birch is one of the most beautiful we possess, 
exhibiting a grace and elegance in its form and foliage, that, if 
equalled, is not surpassed by any other of our indigenous trees, being, 
as Coleridge expresses it :— 
‘ Most beautiful 
Of forest trees, the Lady of the Woods.” 
1¢¢ Birch,—wee have none in North Wilts, but some (no great plenty) in 
South Wilts; most by the New Forest. (In the parish of Market Lavington is 
a pretty large coppice, which consists for the most part of birch; and from 
thence it is well known by the name of Birchen Coppice.” —Bishop Tanner,) 
Aubrey, Nat. Hist. Wilts, 
