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Lardy deciduous trees, of the forest kind. The 

 Birch and Alder. 



It belongs to the class and order Monoccia 

 Trtravdria, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Ami'iitacea. 



The characters are : that the male flowers 

 are in a cylindric anient : the calyx is a loose, 

 cylindric ament, imbricate on every side, con- 

 sisting of three-flowered scales, in each of which 

 are two very minute scales, placed at the sides. 

 Three equal floscules are fixed to the disk of 

 each scale of the calyx : the perianthium in each 

 one-leafed, small, entire, three- or four-parted : 

 die divisions ovate and obtuse : there is no 

 corolla : the stamina consist of four, or three 

 or two filaments very small : the anthers 

 are twin : the female flowers in an ament 

 of the same plant : the calyx is a cylindric or 

 roundish, imbricate ament, with two-flowered 

 scales : there is no corolla : the pistillum is an 

 ovate compressed germ, proper, very small, and 

 two-seeded : the styles two and setaceous .- the 

 stigmas simple : there is no pericarpium : the 

 anient under each scale cherishing the seeds of 

 two florets : the seeds are solitary and ovate. 



The species chiefly cultivated in nursery gar- 

 dens are ; 1. B. alba, White or Common Birch 

 Tree. 2. B. nigra, Black Virginian Birch Tree. 

 3. B.lenta, Canada Birch Tree. 4. B. Abuts, 

 The Alder Tree. 5.B. incanu, Hoary Alder Tree. 



The first is easily known by the silvery colour 

 of its bark, or rather the outer thin covering to 

 the bark ; by the smallness of the leaves in com- 

 parison with other timber trees ; and the light- 

 ness and airiness of its whole appearance. It 

 is of a middling or rather inferior size to other 

 forest trees. The branches are alternate, sub- 

 divided, very pliant and flexible, covered with a 

 reddish brown or russet, smooth bark, generally 

 dotted with white. The leaves are alternate, 

 bright green, smooth, shining beneath, with 

 the veins crossing like the meshes of a net : the 

 petioles are half an inch or more in length, 

 smooth, grooved above ; and at the base are 

 ovate green glands. The male aments or calkins 

 appear in autumn, keep on during the winter, 

 -and unfold their flowers when the females ap- 

 pear in spring; they are situated at the ends of 

 the twigs, commonly two together, sessile, 

 cylindric, blunt, long, narrow, and pendulous : 

 the scales separating the flowers are roundish, 

 acuminate, yellowish brown, and smooth : the 

 female aments appear in spring at the ends of 

 the shorter branches ; they are solitary, at first 

 upright, but afterwards nodding a little, cy- 

 lindric or rather ovate, blunt, on pedicels near 

 a quarter of an inch in length, shorter and 

 thicker than the male aments : the scales have 



BET 



from two to four flowers in each, they are lan- 

 ceolate, blunt, green, and smooth ; the germs 

 two, sometimes more, compressed : the styles 

 and stigmas are reddish. It is a native of most 

 parts of Europe. 



The chief variety of this is the Pendulous or 

 Weeping Birch. 



The second species has the larger serratures of 

 the leaves deeper and more remote, and besides 

 these very small, fine, crowded ones ; the base 

 from an obtuse angle is quite entire. The twigs 

 are pubescent, and the petioles villose. The 

 branches are spotted, and more sparingly set on 

 the tree than in the common sort. The leaves 

 are broader, and grow on longer petioles. It ar- 

 rives at a much greater size, and is equally hardy 

 with the White Birch. 



There are several varieties of it : as the Broad- 

 leaved Virginian Birch ; the Poplar-leaved Vir- 

 ginian Birch; the Paper Birch ; and the Brown 

 Birch. 



In the third species the leaves are smooth, 

 very finely and sharply serrate. The female cat- 

 kins are ovate, sessile, with acuminate entire 

 scales. It grows to a great height. 



There are several varieties, as the Dusky, 

 White, Paper, and Poplar-Jeaved Canada Birch. 



The fourth, though it appears as a shrub, fre- 

 quently will however grow to a considerable 

 tree. The bark is blackish, and in old trees full 

 of clefts. The wood is red and brittle. The 

 leaves are of a dark green colour, and a round- 

 ish figure, resembling those of the hasel, crenate, 

 smooth, and in the common sort viscid to the 

 touch : the nerves on the under side have spongy 

 balls at the angles of their ramifications, as m 

 the leaves of the lime-tree : the petioles are 

 grooved above, and near an inch long ; at the 

 base of these are lanceolate, blunt stipules. 

 The male catkins are cylindrical, appear in the 

 autumn, and continue to the spring. The fe- 

 males are of a short conical form, like a small 

 fir cone. It is a native of most parts of Europe. 



There are several varieties : as the Long-leaved 

 American, the White, the Dwarf, aaid the Cut- 

 leaved Alder. 



The fifth species is very distinct from the 

 above, both in the structure of its parts, and its 

 uses. It never attains the size of that, and is 

 commonly shrubby: the trunk is scarcely thicker 

 than the human arm: the wood is white, and of 

 a closer texture : the branches and even twigs 

 are testaceous, hoary, diverging at half a right 

 angle : the leaveves not round but ovate, 

 drawn out at the end, unequally serrate with 

 very sharp toothlets, sometimes doubly-serrate 

 with very obscure incisions, very smooth, and 

 somewhat glutinous even bencaih, except at 



