BET 



349 



BET 



flexible laminated matter, of which great quantities arc 

 brought down into the plains of India for lining the tubes of 

 hookahs. The Sanscrit name of the substance is boorja, a 

 word which Mr. Graves Haughton considers the root of birch, 

 and one of many proofs that the Saxon part of the English 

 language is descended from the Sanscrit. (Wall. Plant. As. 

 Rar. vol. ii. p. 7.) The bark of this species is of a pale cin- 

 namon colour. It is nearly allied to B. papyracea. It would 

 be a beautiful tree in this country if it could be introduced, 

 as also would all the following Indian species. 



6. Bctula acuminata, tapering-leaved birch ; leaves ovate, 

 lanceolate, somewhat simply serrated, taper-pointed, smooth, 

 dotted beneath, leafstalks and twigs quite smooth ; ripe 

 catkins, very long, pendulous, cylindrical, crowded ; their 

 rachis and the bracts, which are auricled at the base, downy. 

 Found on many of the mountains of Nepaul, and in the great 

 valley of that country, following the course of rivers. It 

 forms a very large and noble tree, from fifty to sixty feet 

 high, covered with branches from its very base. The wood 

 is stated by Dr. Wallich to be greatly esteemed by the 

 inhabitants, who employ it for all sorts of purposes where 

 strength and durability are required. 



7. Betula nitida, shining birch ; leaves oblong, taper- 

 pointed; with fine double serratures, the twigs and leafstalks 

 hairy : ripe catkins, pendulous, cylindrical, crowded ; bracts 

 three-lobed, hairy, with the lengthened middle lobe longer 

 than the fruit. A tree found in Kumaon. 



8. Betula cylindrostachya,' cylindrical spiked birch ; 

 leaves oblong, taper-pointed, heart-shaped, with fine double 

 gerratures ; twigs, leafstalks, and veins downy ; ripe catkins 

 pendulous, very long, cylindrical ; fruit deeply two-lobed ; 

 bracts linear-lanceolate, blunt, membranous, with two teeth 

 at the base, fringed with hairs. A tree found in Kumaon. 



* * * AMERICAN BIRCHES. 



9. Betula populifolia, the poplar-leaved or white Ame- 

 rican birch ; catkins pendulous ; branches perfectly hairless, 

 drooping, very much covered with resinous warts; leaves 

 triangular, taper-pointed, doubly-toothed, on long weak 

 stalks. This species is more an object of ornament than of 

 utility. It rarely grows more than twenty or twenty- five 

 feet high, except in very rich soils, when it is said to become 

 somewhat taller. It is a native of the northern parts of 

 North America, from the lower parts of New York, New 

 Jersey, and Pennsylvania, to Canada. Michaux says that 

 its bark cannot be divided into thin plates like that of the 

 paper birch or common European species. It is very like 

 the European B. pendula, from which the characters we 

 have assigned it are sufficient to distinguish it. There are 

 gome varieties of it in the nurseries, varying in the size of 

 the leaves, and in the depth of their indentations, but they 

 are not of any importance. 



10. Betula nigra, the red birch (B. rubra, Mich. B. 

 lanulosa, A. Mich.) ; branches covered closely with a short 

 thick down, which they do not lose till the second year ; 

 leaves angularly rhomboidal, very deeply doubly serrated, 

 acute, with the axils and veins of the underside of the leaf 

 downy ; stipules narrow-ovate, membranous, smooth, soon 

 dropping off. A native of the borders of rivers, where it 

 grows associated with planes, maples, and willows, in the 

 southern provinces of the United States, delighting as much 

 in heat, according to Michaux, as many other species do in 

 cold, and therefore the best adapted for planting in the 

 southern parts of Europe. It is a handsome species, growing 

 as much as seventy feet high, and from two to three feet 

 thick, and is remarkable for its bark not being white and 

 shining, but brown, dotted with white, and slightly wrinkled. 

 The limbs of the tree are large, and the branches terminate 

 in long flexible pendulous twigs ; cask hoops are manufac- 

 tured from its shoots when about an inch in diameter ; and 

 all the brooms used in the streets of Philadelphia, which 

 are far better than thc-~e of Europe, are prepared from its 

 tough and elastic twigs. No species can be better marked 

 than this, which appears, however, rarely to have found a 

 place in collections. Its leaves are nearly as large as those 

 of the canoe-birch, and remarkably angular. The stipules 

 are unusually large, and more resemble those of a plane 

 than a birch. The Messrs. Loddiges of Hackney were the 

 first importers of this fine but little known species. In this 

 country it i* generally called tt. angulafa. 



11. Betula cxcelia., the yellow birch (5. lutea, Mich.) ; 

 catkins erect, short, thick, nearly sessile ; branches exceed- 

 ingly downy when young ; leaves rhomboidal, acute without 



any tapering, finely and regularly serrated, or nearly entire; on 

 very downy stalks ; stipules large and membranous. Found 

 chielly in the coldest parts of North America along with 

 the paper birch ; south of the Hudson river it becomes rare. 

 Michaux states that it is principally in good alluvial soil ; 

 that it thrives in company with black and hemlock spruces 

 and ashes ; its greatest height is from sixty to seventy feet, 

 with a diameter of something more than two feet. It is 

 said to be a handsome tree with a straight trunk, often 

 clear of branches as far as thirty or forty feet from the 

 ground. It is remarkable for the bright golden yellow of 

 its bark, which shines as if it had been varnished. Its wood 

 is something like that of the soft birch, but is not so good 

 nor so dark coloured. It may be readily known by its 

 leaves being particularly downy when young, and although 

 they eventually become smooth, their stalks never lose the 

 downy character. It is most like B. nigra, from which its 

 thicker and more hairy catkins, and simply serrated leaves 

 distinguish it, independently of other characters. 



12. Betula papyracea, the paper or canoe birch ; catkins 

 thick, pendulous, on long stalks ; branches generally more 

 or less downy when young, sometimes hairy ; leaves ovate, 

 occasionally heart-shaped, regularly or irregularly serrated, 

 smooth or downy. This, the most valuable of all the species 

 of birch, is a native of North America, where it grows in 

 great quantities, not extending beyond 73 to the north nor 

 43 to the south, according to Michaux. The slopes of 

 hills and valleys, where the soil is of good quality, are said 

 to be its favourite stations : in such places it often acquires 

 the height of seventy feet. 



Its wood is sometimes used in North America for cabinet 

 makers' work ; but it is not of much value for exposure to 

 weather, as it soon decays if subjected alternately to damp and 

 dryness. Its bark is the part which is the most esteemed ; 

 this part is said to be so durable that old fallen trees are stated 

 to be frequently found with their form so well preserved that 

 one would think them perfectly sound, but upon examining 

 them it is found that the whole of the wood is rotted away, 

 and nothing is left but the sound and solid case of bark. 

 This part is used for a number of useful purposes ; log-houses 

 are sometimes thatched with it ; little boxes, cases, &c., and 

 even hats are manufactured from it ; but its great value is 

 for making canoes. For the purpose of obtaining pieces 

 sufficiently large for such a purpose, we are informed by 

 Michaux that the largest and smoothest-barked trees are 

 selected; in the spring two circular incisions at the dis- 

 tance of several feet are made, and a longitudinal incision 

 on each side ; then by introducing a wedge of wood between 

 the trunk and bark, the latter is easily detached. With 

 threads prepared from the fibrous roots of the white spruce 

 fir (Abies alba), the pieces of bark are sown together, over a 

 light frame-work of wood, and the seams are caulked with 

 the resin of the balm of Gilead fir. Canoes of this sort are 

 so light as to be easily transported upon the shoulders of 

 men. It is said that one capable of carrying four persons 

 and their baggage only weighs from forty to fifty pounds. 

 (Michaux.) Several varieties are found in the plantations 

 of this country ; they differ principally in the breadth and 

 downy character of the leaves, and in the hairiness of the 

 branches. The true B. papyracea has branches and leaves 

 with scarcely any hairs ; the variety B. trichoclada has ex- 

 tremely hairy branches and heart-shaped leaves ; and that 

 called B. platyphylla has very broad leaves. 



1 3. Betula lenta, the soft, black, or cherry birch (B. carpini- 

 /u/i'a, A.Mich.); catkins short, erect; branches quite smooth; 

 leaves thin, cordate, oblong, tapering to a point, simply or 

 doubly serrated, downy when young, smooth afterwards ; 

 stipules very large and membranous. None of the American 

 birches produce timber so valuable as this ; whence one of 

 its American names is mountain mahogany. Its wood is 

 hard, close-grained, and of a reddish brown ; it is imported 

 into this country in considerable quantity, under the name 

 of American birch, for forming the slides of dining-tables, 

 and for similar purposes. It is abundant in the midland 

 states, as in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, but 

 more to the south it only appears on the summits of the 

 Alleghanies. Deep rich soil is what it prefers ; and when 

 it attains its greatest dimensions, which are as much as 

 seventy feet of height and three of diameter, it is a hand- 

 some tree, budding remarkably early in the spring, when 

 its leaves are covered with a short thick coat of down ; this 

 disappears later in the season, and leaves them of a bright 

 and lively green. Michaux says that it grows with un- 



