150 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND BLOSSOMS. 



rigorous climate of Greenland, though there, of course, it is 

 greatly diminished in stature. 



The leaf varies slightly in outline from oval with a point to 

 a rhombic form, with a long slender stalk, and the edges are 

 doubly toothed. The silvery-white bark is continually dis- 

 carding its outermost layer, which peels off in ragged, tissue- 

 paper-like strips, revealing the newer, whiter bark beneath. 

 In this country it is used in tanning, but in the far Northern 

 parts of Europe it is put to a variety of uses. The inflores- 

 cence is a catkin, the sexes separate, but borne by the same 

 tree. The flowers of the pendulous male catkin consist each 

 of a single sepal with two stamens, the filaments of which are 

 forked, each branch bearing one anther cell, so that each 

 stamen looks like two. The female spike, which is more erect, 

 and shorter, is composed of three-lobed bracts, each containing 

 two or three flowers. These are simply two-celled ovaries, with 

 two styles and stigmas. The fruit is round, flattened, with 

 a notched broad wing. It flowers in April and May. 



There is one other Native species, the Dwarf Birch (B. uana], a bush of no 

 more han three feet in height, which occurs locally in the mountain districts of 

 Scotland and Northumberland. The leaves are very small, round with rounded 

 teeth ; smooth, dark green, and with a short stalk. The seeds have very narrow 

 wings. Flowers in May. 



The name Betula is the old Latin designation for this tree. 



The Alder (Alnus glutinosa). 



The Alder, of which we have but one species, is own cousin 

 to the Birch, but we must not seek it in similar situations. The 

 Birch loves the breezy hillside, the Alder prefers the swampy 

 valley, the pond and river- side, its tastes being more thoroughly 

 aquatic even than those of the Willows. Its bark has some re- 

 semblance to that of the Birch, especially when young, but in 

 later life is more rugged, and very dark. The leaves are nearly 

 round, doubly toothed, and with short stalks. When young 

 they are sticky, as are the young shoots. The male catkins are 



