310 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [16:7— Oct., 1920 



gray, shaggy outer layers of the bark, is quite as beautiful as the 

 rich red-browns of the black birch bark. Thoreau felt the charm 

 of the yellow birches and in his journal of Jan. 4, 1853, he says: 

 "To what I will call yellow Birch Swamp, E. Hubbard's in the north 

 part of the town, — ^west of the Hunt's pasture. There are more 

 of these trees in it than anywhere else in the town that I know. 

 How pleasing to stand near a new or rare tree ; and few are so hand- 

 some as this; singularly allied to the black birch in its sweet checker- 

 berry scent and its form, and to the canoe birch in its peeling or fringed 

 and tasselled bark. The top is brush-like, as in the black birch. 

 The bark an exquisite, delicate gold color, curled off partly from 

 the trunk with vertical clear or smooth spaces, as if a plane had 

 been passed up the tree. The sight of these trees affects me miore 

 than California gold. I measured one five and two-twelfths feet 

 in circumference at six feet from the ground. We have the silver 

 and the golden birch. This is like a fair-flaxen haired sister of 

 the dark complexioned black birch, with golden ringlets. How 

 lustily it takes hold of the swampy soil and braces itself. In the 

 twilight I went through the swamps, and the yellow birches sent 

 forth a yellow gleam which each time made my heart beat faster. 

 Sometimes I was in doubt about a birch whose vest was buttoned, 

 smooth and dark till I came nearer and saw the yellow gleaming 

 through, or where a button was off." 



The yellow birch is one ot the most valuable timber trees of the 

 North. The wood is heavy, hard and strong, and is used for mak- 

 ing furniture, the hubs of wheels, and boxes. Few hard woods of 

 light color make as attractive flooring as polished yellow birch. 



The Red Birch is easily distinguished from all the other birches by 

 its reddish, loosely peeling bark, which gives the trunk an unkempt 

 shaggy and torn appearance. It should not be inferred from this 

 description that the red birch is lacking in beauty, for it is a most 

 attractive tree. Its general outline is picturesque, and the soft 

 red color of the peeling epidermis of the bark in the upper branches 

 has a very pleasing eflect. The red birch is the only semi-aquatic 

 species among the birches, and its drooping branches hanging over 

 the water add much to the beauty of our streams and rivers. 



Annie Oakes Huntington gives us an excellent description of the 

 red birch. It is a medium sized tree found on the edges of streams. 

 It has long, graceful sweeping upper limbs, with small, pendulous 

 lower branches. The bark is reddish, very shaggy and loose. 



