CANOE BIRCH; PAPER BIRCH (Betula papyri/era, Marsh). 

 60 to 80 feet. Large tree with broad, open head of few, erect 

 large limbs, with numerous horizontal branches ending in 

 flexible twigs. Bark dull, chalky white, stripping horizon- 

 tally into thin, curling sheets, cut by slit-like lenticels, and 

 curling at the edges; under layers brownish, parting into great 

 numbers of thin sheets, used for writing paper. White sur- 

 face rubs off on clothing. Wood brown, reddish, light, hard, 

 close-grained, tough, used for shoe lasts, pegs, spools, wood 

 pulp, and fuel. Leaves ovate, 2 to 3 inches long, finely and 

 irregularly saw-toothed, dull, dark green above, paler beneath, 

 yellow in autumn. Petioles grooved, hairy, slender. Flowers 

 monoecious, in catkins: staminate in 3's, terminal, 3 to 4 inches 

 long; pistillate solitary, 3 to l inches long. Fruit smooth, 

 cylindrical cones of overlapping, 3-lobed bracts, each with a 

 single oval, broad- winged seed. Dist.: Canada and Alaska; 

 south to Long Island, Pennsylvania, Central Michigan, and 

 Minnesota, northern Nebraska, Black Hills, northern Mon- 

 tana and Washington; north to Arctic Circle. Furnishes 

 Indians bark for canoes, and innumerable camp utensils to 

 trappers. Inner bark is a starchy food. Used as an orna- 

 mental and shade tree. 



