6o Trees with Simple Leaves. [A n 



Fig. 30. — Yellow Birch. B. littea, Michaux, f. 

 Leaves, simple ; alternate (often alternate in pairs) ; 



EDGE VERY SHARPLY, UNEQUALLY, AND RATHER 

 COARSELY TOOTHED. 



Outline, egg-shape. Apex, pointed. Base, narrowed and 

 /^<2r/-shaped. 



Leaf-stem, short and downy. 



Leaf, about four by two and one fourth inches, or often 

 smaller; thin ; downy when young, becoming smooth. 



Ribs, straight. 



Outer bark of trunk thin and a silvery yellow, and separat- 

 ing into narrow ribbons curling outwards at the ends. 

 The twigs and the bark are sweet-tasting and aromatic, 

 but less so than in the "Sweet Birch." 



Found, in moist woods, along the Alleghany Moun- 

 tains, in Delaware and Southern Minnesota, and 

 northward into Canada. 



A tree forty to eighty feet or often more in height ; one 

 of the largest and most valuable non-evergreen trees of 

 New England and Canada. Its hard, close-grained wood is 

 largely used for fuel, in making furniture, button-moulds, 

 wheel-hubs, pill-boxes, etc. 



