170i 



AUbORKTUM AND FRUTIETUM. 



I'Aur m 



trees. Tliis is a very singular fungus ; it is composed 

 of folds radiating from the centre, with a beautiful ly 

 radiated margin ; it was found at Appin, in Argyll^ihire. 

 Spiue'ria multiformis Fries h also found on tiie birch. 

 To this list may be added y/garicus musciirius L. j^ 

 (^g. 1555.), the fly agaric, the most poisonous of all 

 the genus, which is generally found in birch woods. 

 It is highly narcotic, [)roducing, in small doses, intox- 

 ication and delirium, for which purpose it is used in 

 Kamtschatka; and, in larger doses, death. For a de- 

 tailed account of its poisonous effects, see Rocjue's 

 Hist, iks ('/lamp., p. 123. ; and a paper by Dr. Greviile, 

 in the 4th vol. of the IVcnurian Trans., from which 

 an extract is given by Dr. Lindley, JiUrod. lo Xat. 

 Syst. of But., p. 337. {Eng. Ft., vol. v. p. 4.) 



Stalislics. Recorded Trees. A weeping birch, at Ballogie, in the parish ofBirse, in Aberdcfiuhirc, 

 measured, in 17t«, Sft. in circumferuncc at 4 ft. from the cround. It had a clear straight stem, about 

 6()ft. high, of nearly equal thickness throughout; and the total height of the tree was supposed to 

 be about 10() ft. {Stat. Hist., vol. ix. p. li.'D.) In the Forest of Tamawa, in jyiorayshire, there are 

 several birches which girt 9 ft, at 4 ft. from the ground. (/6«rf., vol. viii. p. 5o/.) Sir Thomas Dick 

 Lauder says that there are now many in the same forest which girt 10 ft. and 11 ft. ; and he measured 

 one which girted 1.'3 ft. at .J ft. from the ground. (Lauder's Gilpin, vol. i. p. 28.3.) In France, in the 

 time of Uu Hamel, there was a superb weeping birch at KrnienonviUe, which stood Ixjside the 

 Temple of Philosophy, in the park, and hung over |)art of the building. 



Ezi.iting Trees. In the environs of London, in the Fulham Nursery, 4^) years planted, it is .V) ft. 

 high. In Dorsetshire, at Melbury Park, M years planted, it is 72 ft. high ; in Wiltshire, at VVardour 

 CasUc, 40 years planted, it is 60 ft. high, diameter of the trunk i'ft., and that of the head oO ft. 

 In Scotland, in Haddingtonshire, at Ycster, SO years planted, it is 73 ft high, diameter of the 

 trunk 4 ft. 6 in., and of the head 78 ft. ; in Forfarshire, at Kinnaird, 100 years planted, it is 70 ft. high, 

 the diameter of the trunk 3 ft., and of the head 54 ft. ; in Perthshire, at Taymouth, B. 6lba pendula 

 is &HI. high, the diameter of the trunk '.'ft, and of the head 50 ft.; in Ross-shirc, at Brahan Castle, 

 the S|>ecies is 70 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk '2 ft., and of the head .iO ft. In Ireland, in the 

 Glasnevin Botanic Garden, 35 years planted, it is 36 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft., and of the 

 head 16 ft. ; in Tyrone, at Baron's Court, it is tiO ft. high, diameter of the trunk ^ ft. 4 in., and of the head 

 50 ft. In France, at Avranches, in the Botanic Garden, 19 years old, it is 49 ft. high, the diameter 

 of the trunk 2i ft., and of the head '20 ft. In Bavaria, in the Botanic Garden at Munich, i;4 years 

 planted, it is ^8ft. high. In Austria, at Vienna, at Laxenburg, 25 years old, it is 20ft. high. In 

 Prussia, at Berlin, at Sans Souci, 35 years old, the species is 50 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 

 2 ft., and of the head 19 ft. In Sweden, at Lund, in the Botanic (iarden, 52 ft. high, the diameter of 

 the trunk 9 in., and of the head 18ft. In Denmark, at Hosenburg, it is between 70 ft. and 80 ft. 

 high. In Russia, near St. Petersburg, at Rudets, on the estate of Madame Constantinoft", 40 years 

 old, it is 71 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 15 in. In Lombardy, at Monza, 24 years old, it it 

 45 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft., and of the head 20 ft. 



** i 2. B. DAU^RiCA Pall. The Daurian Birch. 



Identification. Pall. Ross., 1. p. 60. ; Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 463. ; Baum., p. 57. ; N. Du Ham., 3. 



p. 2I>4. ; Hayne Dend., p. 166. 

 Si/noJtumes. li. excOlsa canadensis IVatw. Bcilr., p. 86.; Bouleau de Siberie, Fr. 

 Engravings. PalL Ross., 1. t. 39. ; 'Willd. Baura., t 1. f. 3. and 4. ; and our Jig. 1556. 



Spec. Char., i^-c. Leaves ovate, narrow at the base, quite entire, unequally 

 dentate, glabrous. Scales of the strobiles ciliated on their margins ; side 

 lobes roundish. (IVi/lcl. Sj). PL, iv. p. W.i.) This spe- 

 cies, according to Pallas, its discoverer, is closely allied i\ 

 to /i. alba, and is found along with that species '"Xv--.^^^ ,1 

 Diiuria, and part of Asiatic Siberia; but it is not found ^"^"^^ i^ 

 in Euroi)ean Siberia, nor in Russia. It does not grow 

 so tall as the common birch, and the trunk does not 

 exceed 1 ft. in diameter. The bark is grey, cleft longi- 

 tudinally, and divided into brown scales, that have the 

 appearance of being burnt. The branches are more 

 subdivided, and more upright, than those of B. lilba. 

 The leaves are broader, commonly smaller, on shorter 

 petioles, and unequally serrated. The stipules are 

 lanceolate, grey, subpubcscent, and deciduous. The 

 male catkins are produced at the ends of the twigs of 

 the foregoing year, two or three together, larger than 

 in the common birch ; the females are on the .same 

 twigs, lateral, thicker, with larger and more rounded 

 scales ; the seed, also, is a little longer ; but the mem- 



