498 



BETULA 



BETTLA 



only at the apex, the middle lobe slightly longer. 

 From Maine to Ala., west to eastern Ohio. S.S. 9:448. 

 H.T. 124, 125. Em. 232. Very handsome tree, round- 

 headed, and with pendulous branches when older; 

 attractive in spring, with its long staminate catkins. 

 Bark and Ivs. largely used in domestic practice; 

 branches and foliage yield an oil very similar to oil of 

 wintergreen, and employed for all conditions in which 



the latter proves use- 

 ful; bark as well as the 

 oil much used for 

 flavoring. 



5. totea, Michx. (B. 

 excelsa, Pursh, not 

 Ait.). YELLOW BIRCH. 

 Fig. 547. Tree, some- 

 tjmes 100 ft.: bark 

 silvery gray or light 

 orange, on old trunks 

 reddish brown; young 

 bark aromatic, but 

 somewhat bitter: 

 branchlets usually 

 pilose: Ivs. ovate or 

 oblong -ovate, usually 

 rounded at the base, 

 acuminate, sharply and 

 doubly serrate, usually 

 hairy along the veins 

 beneath: cones like the 

 last, but thicker; scales 

 nearly Hin. long, lobed 

 to the middle, pubes- 



548. Betula pendula. 



cent outside. From Newfoundland west to Minn., 

 south along the Alleghanies to the high peaks of N. C. 

 and Term. S.S. 9:449. Em. 235. H.T. 126, 127. One 

 of the most valuable forest trees in the northern 

 states, much resembling the former in habit. Var. 

 persicifolia, Dipp., has larger and longer Ivs., often 

 ovate-lanceolate. 



DD. Shape of Ivs. ovate, broadest near the base and usually 

 truncate or sometimes cordate: veins not impressed 

 above: petioles to I in. long. 



6. ulmifdlia, Sieb. & Zucc. (B. costata, Trautv.). 

 Tree, 50 ft.: bark yellowish brown: branches not, or 

 slightly glandular: Ivs. ovate, rarely oblong-ovate, 

 irregularly doubly serrate, with 9^-14 pairs of veins, 

 long-acuminate, 2-^3 }^ in. long, hairy when unfolding, 

 glabrous at maturity: cones elliptic; scales glabrous, 

 with short, rhombic or obovate lateral lobes; wings 

 about half as broad as nutlet. Japan. Manchuria. 

 S.I.F. 1:22. W.B. 63. 



7. Ermanii, Cham. Tree, 60 ft.: trunk white: 

 branches yellowish white or orange-colored; branchlets 

 usually glandular and pubescent when young: Ivs. 

 broadly triangular-ovate, acuminate, irregularly coarsely 

 serrate, 2-4 in. long, hairy when unfolding, with 

 7-10 pairs of veins: cones oblong; scales pubescent, 

 with linear-oblong lobes, middle one somewhat longer; 

 wings about one-third as broad as nutlet. N. E. Asia, 

 Japan. S.I.F. 1:22. W.B. 63. Handsome round- 

 headed tree, with slender branches. See page 3566. 



AA. Veins of Ivs. 7 or less pairs, not impressed. 

 B. Wings usually broader than the nut. 



c. Bark white. 



D. Branchlets glabrous and glandular: Ivs. usually rhom- 

 bic-ovate: scales of strobiles with divergent broad 

 lobes larger than the middle lobe. 



8. populifdlia, Ait. (B. dlba var. populifdlia, Spach). 

 WHITE BIRCH. Small tree, exceptionally 40 ft., with 

 smooth white bark: branchlets with numerous resinous 

 glands: Ivs. slender, petioled, triangular or deltoid, 

 long-acuminate, coarsely doubly serrate, glutinous when 



young, glabrous at length and shining: cones slender, 

 stalked, cylindric, about 1 in. long; bracts pubescent, 

 the lateral lobes divergent, about as long as the middle 

 one. F'rom New Brunswick to Del., west to Ont. S.S. 

 9:450. H.T. 118, 119. Em. 1:242. A small, graceful, 

 but short-lived tree, yet thriving in dry and poor soil. 

 Var. laciniata, Loud. Lvs. incised-laciniate. Var. pen- 

 dula, Loud. Branches distinctly pendulous. Var. pur- 

 purea, Ellwanger & Barry. Lvs. purple when young, 

 green at length. B. populifolia x B. papyrifera is shown 

 in G.F. 8 : 356. It has been found wild in several locali- 

 ties, but is apparently not in cult. 



9. pendula, Roth (B.verrucosa, Ehrh. B.dlba, Linn., 

 in part). Figs. 548, 549. Tree, to 60 ft., with slender, 

 in older trees usually pendulous, branches: young 

 branchlets usually glandular: Ivs. rhombic-ovate, %- 

 2J/2 in. long, glutinous when young, glabrous, usually 

 cuneate, sometimes truncate at the base, acuminate, 

 doubly serrate; petioles slender, about 1 in. long: 

 strobiles cylindric, about 1 in. long, slender-pedunoled. 

 usually pendulous: wings of nutlet about one and a half 

 to two and a half times as broad as its body. Eu. to 

 Japan. H.W. 2:15, p. 20. W.B. 76. Var. Tauschii, 

 Rehd. (B.japonica, Sieb. B. dlba var. Tauschii, Shirui. 

 B. pendula var. japonica, Rehd.). Lvs. broadly ovate. 

 truncate or sometimes subcordate at the base, some- 

 times puberulous beneath and often with tufts of hairs 

 in the axils. S.I.F. 1:21. Var. dalecarlica, Schneicl. 

 (B. laciniata, Wahl. B. hybrida, Blom). Lvs. more or 

 less deeply lobed with irregularly serrate-acuminate 

 lobes: branches on older trees pendulous. A very 

 graceful tree. Var. fastigiata, Koch (B. dlba fasliywtn. 

 Carr. B. pendula pyramidalis, Dipp.). With straight 

 upright branches, forming a narrow columnar pyr- 

 amid. G.C. III. 41:151. M.D.G. 16:164. Var. tristis, 

 Schneid. With very slender, strongly pendulous 

 branches, forming a round regular head. Var. Youngii, 

 Schneid. (B. dlba pendula Youngii, Moore. B. pendula 

 elegans, Dipp. B. dlba elegantissima pendula, Hort.). 

 Branches very slender, strongly pendulous; primary 

 branches spreading or recurved, forming an irregular 

 picturesque head ; similar in habit to the weeping beech. 

 F. 1873, p. 60. R.H. 1869, p. 136. Gn. 6, p. 528. Var. 

 gracilis, Rehd. (B. 

 dlba laciniata graci- 

 lis pendula, Hort.. 

 B. elegans lacini- 

 ata, Hort.). Habit 

 like the preceding, 

 with laciniate Ivs. 

 Much slenderer and 

 smaller and of 

 slower growth than 

 var. dalecarlica. 

 Var. purpurea, 

 Schneid. (B.vulgaris 

 purpurea, Andr6. 

 B. dlba atropur- 

 purea, Lauche. B. 



pubescens atropurpiirea, Zabel). Lvs. dark purple. 11. H. 

 4:185. 



DD. Branchlets pubescent and slightly glandular or <// 



less: Ivs. generally ovate, rounded at the base: 

 bracts with the lateral lobes upright or spreading, 

 shorter than the middle lobe. 



10. pubescens, Ehrh. (B. odordta, Bechst. B. dlba, 

 Linn., in part). Tree, to 60 ft.: branches upright or 

 spreading, rarely pendulous in old trees; branchlets 

 pubescent and glandless: Ivs. ovate or rhombic-ovate, 

 1-2 in. long, rounded, truncate or cuneate at the base, 

 acute, usually unequally and doubly serrate, pubescent 

 beneath, at least while young: strobiles cylindric, about 

 1 in. long, upright or nodding; scales puberulous, 

 lateral lobes upright or spreading, rarely recurved. I 

 and Cent. Eu. to E. Siberia. H.W. 2, pp. 24, 25. Var. 



549. Leaves of Betula pendula. ( X ' i 



