THE BIRCHES 



363 



Few trees are better equipped than the birches to per- 

 petuate their kind. They are abundant seeders, and the 

 seeds are small, light in weight, well-winged, and are 

 scattered over long distances by the wind. It may seem 

 incredible, but it is true, that by actual count it has been 

 found that there are 711,680 seeds of Paper Birch in a 

 pound. The Black Birch and Yellow Birch have from 

 400,000 to 500,000 seeds per pound. 



Of course, the seeds produced by these trees do not al- 

 ways fall upon favorable places. Some of them do not 

 germinate, while others perish soon after they have been 

 dropped. It is fortunate for the trees that they are not 



THE LEAVES. FLOWERS AND FRUIT OF THE BLACK 

 BIRCH ARE DISTINCTIVE. ITS SEEDS ARE SMALL 

 AND WELL-WINGED. THERE ARE AT LEAST 400,000 

 SEEDS TO A POUND 



particularly choice in selecting places upon which to 

 grow. They will grow on poor, mineral soil, thrive in 

 old fields, get along in places where they are flooded 

 with sunlight, and will even maintain themselves in deep 

 shade where only occasional beams of sunlight touch 

 them. 



Nature seems to help the birch trees, for if one ex- 

 amines a mature tree late in fall or early in winter, there 

 will be noted upon it many cone-like bodies about an inch 

 long. These are the fruiting bodies. Many of them stand 

 erect, and remain intact for a long while with thousands 



LE.AVES, FLOWERS AND FRUITING BODIES OF THE 

 RED OR RIVER BIRCH 



THE WHITE OR GREY BIRCH HAS POPLAR-LIKK 

 LEAVES,-ERECT FRUITING BODIES, AND ITS FLOW- 

 ERS APPEAR WITH THE LEAVES 



