188 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



heart-shaped at the base, very acuminate, and doubly and 

 irregularly toothed. The petioles are slightly twisted, and 

 the leaves are almost as tremulous as those of the aspen. 

 It is a beautiful small tree for ornamental plantations. 



The common Black or Sweet birch. (B. lenta) This 

 is the sort most generally known by the name of the birch, 

 and is widely diffused over the middle and southern states. 

 In color and appearance the bark much resembles that of 

 the cherry tree ; on old trees, at the close of winter, it is 

 frequently detached in transverse portions, in the form of 

 hard ligneous plates six or eight inches broad. The leaves. 

 for a fortnight after their appearance, are covered with a 

 thick silvery down, which disappears soon after. They are 

 about two inches long, serrate, heart-shaped at the base, 

 acuminate at the summit, and of a pleasing tint and fine 

 texture. The wood is of excellent quality, and Michaux 

 recommends its introduction largely into the forests of the 

 north of Europe. 



The Yellow birch {B. lutea) grows most plentifully in 

 Nova Scotia, Maine, and New Brunswick, on cool, rich 

 soils, where it is a tree of the largest size. It is remark- 

 able for the color and arrangement of its outer bark, which 

 is of a brilliant golden yellow, and is frequently seen divided 

 into fine strips rolled backwards at the end, but attached in 

 the middle. The leaves are about three and a half inches 

 long, two and a half broad, ovate, acuminate, and bordered 

 with sharp and irregular teeth. It is a beautiful tree, with 

 a trunk of nearly uniform diameter, straight, and destitute 

 of branches for thirty or forty feet. 



The Red jirch {B. ruhi^a) belongs chiefly to the south, 

 being scarcely ever seen north of Virginia. It prefers the 

 moist soil of river banks, where i' reaches a noble height 



