THE BIRCH AND THE ALDER. 155 



season, the males starting from the extremities of 

 the twigs, and growing in pairs, so as to give the 

 idea of little V's, until fully expanded, which is 

 simultaneously with the opening of the leaves, when 

 they droop elegantly, and in vast profusion, a female 

 catkin ordinarily accompanying every male, but so 

 small as almost to elude observation. The males 

 are light brown, nearly two inches in length, and 

 pendulous; the females are green, variegated with 

 the crimson stigmas, and generally erect or nearly 

 so. The age attained by the birch, is of course not 

 so considerable as that of trees of greater girth and 

 robustness ; the maximum stature would seem to be 

 fifty or sixty feet. No mention of the tree is made 

 in Scripture, nor does it appear to have attracted 

 the notice of the classical poets, a fact explained 

 perhaps by its comparatively rare occurrence in 

 southern Europe, where moreover it is found only 

 in mountain fastnesses. 



The Alder possesses none of the lady-like charms 

 of the birch; as an invaluable ornament of river- 

 scenery, it stands, however, quite on a level with the 

 willow. No tree is more easily told ; the broken, or 

 torn, or cut inside of the stem and branches, though 

 whitish when growing, very soon acquires a peculiar 

 reddish colour, while the leaves are differently 

 shaped from any other. Ordinarily the leaves of 

 trees possess a point, more or less attenuated, owing 

 to the onward push of the midrib. But in the alder 



