CHAPTER VI. 



I. Simple Alternate Leaves. 



2. With teeth. A. Edge not divided. 



THE BIRCHES. 



Black Sweet or The black, sweet, or cherry birch has 



Cherry Birch, slender, dark reddish - brown twio-s 



Betuia hnta. ^^ ft delig]ltf ul aromatic taste, which 



is a sufficient means for the unmistakable identifica- 

 tion of the tree ; the bark of no other birch possesses 

 exactly this aromatic flavor, although there is a cer- 

 tain sweetness to the yellow birch's twigs. It is from 

 the twiffs of the black birch that the flavoring: for 

 birch beer is obtained. 



This tree has an evenly balanced, oval-pointed leaf, 

 with a regular double-toothed edge, which is an easy 

 means of distinguishing it from its neighbors. Com- 

 pare for an instant my leaf drawings of the black 

 birch and the American elm : it will be seen at once 

 that the leaves are somewhat similar in general out- 



line, in double-toothed edge, and in prominent, almost 

 7 81 



