1710 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PAKT III. 



and of the head .>'2rt. In Dovoiishire, at EnUsleigh Cottage, 10 years planted, it is 27 ft. high ; in 

 Buckinghamshire, at Temple House, 4<) years planted, it is MR. high, diameter of the trunk 10 in., 

 and of the head l(i ft. ; in Staflbrdshirc, at Trenthain, 'Jii years jilunted, it is .'34 ft. high. In Ireland, 

 near Dublin, at Cypress (irove, it is .'>:> ft. high, diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 'J in., and of the head 

 40ft. In Krance, at I'aris, in the Jardin des I'laiites, 3t) years old, it is ^ ft. high, the diameter of 

 the trunk 2} tt., and of the head 3u ft. In Hanover, at GOttingen, in the Botanic Garden, SO 

 years planted, it is 30 ft. high. 



Commercial Slalktics. Price of plants, in tlie London nurseries, from 1.?. to 

 \s. (id. each ; and of" seeds, Is. per (|uart. At New York, plants are 'iii cents 

 each, and seeds 1 dollar per pound, or 8 dollars per bushel. 



* 9. B. Ni'uRA L. The black Birch. 



Pursh Fl. 

 ,^,u. , Dend. Brit., t. I."i3. : Lindicy.in Penny Cvcl. 

 /••/. Bur. Ama., 2. p. 181., A'. Dii Ham., 3. p. 20(j. ; ? B. rubra 



Identification. Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 464., Baum., p. 5C. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 336. 

 N. buHam " 



Amer. 



Sept., 2. p. 621. j N. bu Ham", : ' 

 Synoni/mcs. B. lanuli^sa Miclix. 



Michx. Arb., 2. [). U!2. ; B. anguiaia i.oaa. f.^ar., eu. in jo ; reu uircii, /tmrr. 

 Engravings. Dend. Brit., t. 1;"..3. ; Michx. Kl. Bor. Amer., 2. t. 3. ; Willd. Baum., t. 1. f. 6. ; N. 



Du Ham., 3. t. 51. ; Bot. Cab., t. 1248. ; ouifigs. 1562., and 1563. ; and the plates of this tree in 



our laat Volume. 



Spec. Char., ^c. Leaves rhomboid-ovate, doubly serrated, acute ; pubescent 

 beneath, entire at the base. Scales of the strobiles villosc ; .segments li- 

 near, equal. {Willd. Sp. PL, iv. p. 4G+.) A tree, a native of North America, 

 from Isew Jersey to Carolina ; attaining the height of 70 ft. ; and flowering 

 in May. Introduced as B. nigra, in 173(3, by Peter Collinson ; and again, 

 as B. angulata, in 1817, by Messrs. Loddiges. We have adopted the spe- 

 cific name of nigra, because it was preferred by Willdenow and Pursh. The 

 figure in Michaux, of which our //i,'.! 562. is a correct copy, differs so much 

 from that given in Dend. Brit, {our fg.\!j(i'.i), which we know to be a faith- 

 ful imitation of the plant which we intend to describe, as it is to be seen at 

 Messrs. Loddiges's, and in various other nurseries, that we are inclined to 

 think there must be some error in the application of the name to the figure 

 in Michaux ; though his description agrees perfectly with our plant — the 

 difference between the cuts being in the position of the catkins. 

 Description, <^c. A tree, when full grown, attaining the height of 70 ft., in 

 Virginia and North Carolina. The trunk and the largest limbs are covered 

 with a thick, deeply furrowed, greenish bark ; but, on trees with trunks not 

 exceeding Sin. or 10 in. in diameter, the epidermis is 

 reddish, or of a cinnamon colour ; " whence, probably," 

 savs Michaux, " the appropriate denomination of red 

 birch. The epidermi.s of this species, like that of the 

 canoe birch (B. papyracea), divides itself transversely 

 into thin transparent sheets, which appear to be com- 

 posed of a mixed substance, instead of presenting a pure 

 homogeneous texture. Ilencc they have not a uniform 

 transparency, nor a [)erfectly even surface: compared 

 with the bark of the canoe birch, they are like coarse 

 paper compared with fine. When this tree is fully ex- 

 panded, its summit is ample; but the uncommon thickness 

 of its branches prevents it from appearing tufted. The 

 twigs which form the extremity of the tree are long, 

 flexible, and pendulous ; and the limbs are of a brown 

 complexion, spotted with white : their bark is slightly 

 uneven ; while on other branches it is smooth and glossy. 

 The petioles of the red birch arc short and downy; the 

 leaves, on yoiuig trees, are about 3 in. long, and 2 in. 

 broad, of a light green on the upper surface, and whitish beneath ; though on 

 old trees they are much smaller : they are doubly denticulated at the edge, very 

 acuminate at the siunmit, ami terminated at the base in an acute angle, more 

 regular than is seen in the leaf of any other tree. The female catkins, in 

 America, are .j in. or (J in. long, straight, and nearly cylindrical ; about London, 

 they are not half the size. The seeds are ripe in the beginning of June." 

 ( A'. Amer. Si/l., ii. p. 101.) " No species," Dr. Lindley observes, *' can be better 



