17712) ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
nearly a uniform diameter, straight, and destitute 
of branches for 30ft. or 40ft. It is particularly 
remarkable for the colour and arrangement of its 
epidermis, which is of a brilliant golden yellow, 
and frequently divides itself into very fine strips, 
rolled backwards at the ends, and attached in the 
middle. The young shoots and leaves, at their un- 
folding, are downy. Towards the end of summer, 
when fully expanded, the leaves are perfectly smooth, 
except the petiole, which remains covered with fine 
short hairs. The leaves are about 33 in. long, and 
24in. broad; oval, acuminate, and bordered with 
sharp irregular teeth. The leaves, the bark, and the 
young shoots, have all an agreeable taste and smell, 
similar to those of the black birch (B. lénta), 
though they lose it in drying. In its fructification, 
this species nearly resembles B.lénta. The female 
catkins are borne on short peduncles, and are twelve ony 
QW 1564 
or fifteen lines long, and 5 or 6 lines in diameter ; 
straight, of an oval shape, and nearly cylindrical. 
The scales which compose them are trifid, pointed, and about 3 lines in 
length ; viewed through a lens, they are seen to be downy. Beneath these 
scales are the small-winged seeds, which are ripe, in America, about the Ist 
of October. (N. Amer. Syi., ii. p. 104.) It abounds in the forests of Nova 
Scotia, of New Brunswick, and of the district 
of Maine. In New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 
it is rare, and only met with in moist and 
shady situations. It is confounded by the 
inhabitants of these countries with B. lénta, 
which is very abundant there, and to which 
it bears a striking resemblance. In the dis- 
trict of Maine, it is always found in cool and 
rich soils, among ash trees, the hemlock 
spruce, and the black spruce. It attains the 
height of 60 ft. or 70ft., with a trunk of 
more than 2ft. in diameter. It requires 
a moister soil than most of the other Ame- 
rican birches. “The wood of the yellow 
birch is inferior in quality and appearance 
to that of B. lénta, and never assumes so 
deep a shade; but it is strong, and, when 
well polished, makes handsome furniture. 
In Nova Scotia, and in the district of Maine, 
it is found by experience, to be every way 
proper for that part of the framework of 
vessels which always remains in the water. 
In the district of Maine, it is preferred for the yokes of cattle, and for the frames 
of sledges; and, in Nova Scotia, the young saplings are almost exclusively em- 
ployed for making the hoops of casks.” (V. Amer. Sy/., vol.ii. p. 105.) The wood 
is excellent for fuel, and the bark is highly esteemed by tanners. Boards of this 
tree were formerly imported into Ireland and Scotland in large quantities, and 
were much used in joinery. Michaux considers it better adapted to the soil 
and climate of Germany than to those of France, on account of the moisture 
which it requires. Though this species has been in British gardens since 1767, 
when it was introduced by Mr. Gordon of the Mile End Nursery, yet it is 
not common in collections. There are plants in the arboretum of Messrs. 
Loddiges, but they are small; and to us they appear to bear a close resem- 
blance in their leaves to B. lénta. Willdenow mentions that there are no 
large trees of this kind about Berlin. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 
