THE BIRCHES 



359 



Among the other common names of the latter tree are 

 Grey Birch, Poplar-leaved Birch, Old Field Birch and 

 Poverty Birch. It is called White Birch because of its 

 white bark which is marked with triangular black spots 

 located at the origin of lateral branches. 



The leaves of this tree resemble those of the Poplars 

 or Aspen, whence the name Poplar-leaved Birch and the 

 specihc part of the scientific name popidifolia. It is called 

 Old Field Birch because it is so common in old, aband- 

 oned fields of the northeast, and the name Poverty Birch 

 was given to it because it is often present in large num- 

 bers upon very poor sites. 



No more adaptive tree than the White Birch is known. 

 It thrives along the banks of lakes and streams, and 

 withstands the rigors and deficiencies of a dry and rug- 

 ged mountain top. It and the Pitch Pine are among the 

 few trees that are able to maintain themselves upon the 

 sterile refuse that is thrown out on huge piles in all parts 

 of the anthracite coal mining region. 



The White Birch usually attains a height of 20 to 30 

 feet. Sometimes it becomes 45 feet high, and 10 to 12 

 inches in diameter. It is a short-lived tree that grows 

 rather fast. It is found from Nova Scotia to Ontario and 

 southward to Delaware and southern Pennsylvania. 



There is no other tree in the forest of the northeast 

 with leaves like that of the White Birch. They are tri- 

 angular in outline, taper gradually and gracefully from a 

 broad base to a thin, long point, and the leaf-margin is 

 sharp-toothed. The long, slender leaf-stalks allow the 

 leaves to be fluttered by every breeze, until the whole 

 tree often becomes a mass of glimmering green. Mar- 

 shall gave this tree the appropriate scientific name of 



BIRCH TREES SOMETIMES GROW ON HUGE BOULD- 

 ERS. THE LITTLE SEEDLING TREES START THEIR 

 DEVELOPMENT ON TOP OF THE BOULDERS BY SEND- 

 ING OUT ROOTS WHICH FOLLOW THE MOIST, MOSSY 

 COVERING UNTIL THEY REACH THE MINERAL SOIL 



THE WHITE BIRCH IS A SHORT-LIVED TREE. IT IS 

 ATTACKED HEAVILY BY FUNGI. SOMETIMES AS 

 MANY AS 100 SHELF-LIKE FRUITING BODIES OF A 

 FUNGUS MAY BE SEEN ON A SINGLE TREE STEM 



Betula populifoUa, which means Poplar-leaved Birch, for 

 the trembling habit of the leaves is truly characteristic 

 of the Poplars or Aspens. 



The White Birch usually has a continuous trunk, that 

 is, it does not branch near the ground or along the stem, 

 but its main stem continues all the way to the tip. An- 

 other characteristic by which this tree may be recognized 

 is its occurrence in clumps. It is not unusual to find 

 four or five, or often ten, stems in a clump. A close ex- 

 amination of the ground usually reveals an old stem in 

 the midst of these clumps, showing that they all orig- 

 inated as sprouts from a solitary trunk which may have 

 died from the result of an attack by insect or fungi, or it 

 may have been killed by a forest fire. 



The White Birch is singularly attractive, unusually 

 adaptive, and easily propagated. If little seedlings are 

 set out one can be reasonably sure that they will grow, 

 but one must not be disappointed if the seedlings do not 

 have the white bark, so characteristic of older specimens, 

 for it is characteristic of this tree not to develop a white 

 bark until the trees are two, three or more inches in 

 diameter. The bark of young specimens is golden 

 brown, which accounts for the fact that this tree when 

 young is often spoken of as the Golden Birch. 



