94 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 



below the branch ; in the gray birch it is never ab- 

 sent. The bark on a large tree will hold broad 

 spaces unfurrowed by knotty imperfections. The 

 paperlike layers of the bark are easily separated into 

 numerous thin sheets, varying from a buffish cream 

 color to a light tan, the lightest color belonging to 

 the outermost layers. The leaf is altogether unlike 

 that of the gray birch ; its stem is short and often 

 very downy (notice in my drawing that the stems are 

 short, thick, and not sharp or clean looking) ; its out- 

 line is oval, with a moderate point, and the teeth are 

 coarsely irregular ; in color it is dull green, smooth 

 above and hairy below, especially on the ribs and at 

 their angles ; at the base it is of tenest rounded, but 

 now and then it is remotely heart-shaped. 



The branches have no tendency to droop, as do 

 those of the gray birch, and the whole color effect of 

 the tree is darker. It is also a tall variety of the 

 Birch family, sometimes reaching a height of 75 feet. 

 The beauty of the white-trunked tree in the North- 

 ern forests can scarcely be overestimated ; it is one of 

 those woodland characters which does not seem to 

 lose anything by the overcrowding process. I have 

 seen great, handsome specimens in the dense woods 

 of the White Mountains, undespoiled of their virgin 

 white bark by the hands of tourists, growing straight 

 up in the air and sending out widespreading branches 



