BIRD OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 49 



— C. arvensis, common in cornfields and waste j)laces, and C. 

 sepmm, known as Hedge Bindweed, which overruns bushes 

 and hedges, well known for its conspicuous white flowers. A 

 number of exotic species are cultivated in gardens for their 

 showy flowers. 



Birch, Black {Betula nigra), a tree of the Birch family 

 (Betulacese), native of North America. Its timber is tolerably 

 hard, and is used for many purposes. Its sap, with the allied 

 species B. lenta, contains sugar. 



Birch, Indian Paper {Betula BhojpaUi^a), native of Nepal 

 and other parts of the Himalayas. Its bark is deemed sacred, 

 and is used for burial piles ; and in Kashmir children are clothed 

 with it. It is also used for covering roofs, for writing paper, for 

 packing, and for many other purposes. 



Birch, Jamaica (Bicrsera gummifei^a), a tree of the Myrrh 

 family (Burseracese), native of Jamaica, having brown bark like 

 the Birch tree of Europe. The fruit yields a balsamic turpentine, 

 and on wounding the bark a white liquor is obtained, which soon 

 hardens, and is in no way different from Gum Elemi. 



Birch, Paper [Betula -paiiyraced), a native of North America. 

 It has a very thick bark, which is taken off" in large sheets, and 

 by uniting them canoes are made, some large enough to carry a 

 dozen persons. It is also made into shoe soles and domestic 

 utensils. 



Birch, White, of Europe {Betula alhd). — The White Birch 

 is a well-known, graceful tree, grown throughout the whole of 

 Europe. In bleak, rocky situations it assumes the habit of a 

 shrub. Its wood and bark are used for many domestic purposes. 

 In Lapland bread is made from the bark ; in Eussia an oil is 

 extracted from it, which is used in the preparation of Eussian 

 leather, and imparts the well-known scent to it. Its sap flows 

 freely in the spring, and as it contains a quantity of sugar, it is 

 fermented and forms a pleasant wine called Birch Wine. 



Bird-lime. {See Holly.) 



Bird's-nest Fern {Neottopteris Nidus, As]pleniitm Nidus of 

 Linnaeus), a simple fronded fern of the tribe Aspleniese; its fronds 



E 



