258 BETULA 



species. The bark on the trunk is white and peeling ; the young shoots are 

 both downy and warted. Leaves with seven to nine parallel veins, ovate, 

 rounded at the base, unequally toothed (the terminal ones often doubly 

 toothed) ; ij to 2| ins. long, to 2 in. wide ; both surfaces almost or quite 

 smooth, lower one dotted with glands ; stalks to f in. long. Male catkins 

 2 to 2j ins. long. Fruiting catkins cylindrical, i ins. long ; scales edged with 

 minute hairs, the middle lobe longer and narrower than the side ones. Trees 

 at Kew raised from seed in 1891 are quite healthy, and the species is no 

 doubt hardier than B. utilis, from which it can be distinguished by the fewer 

 veins of the leaf, the warted and less downy young shoots, and the more 

 pointed middle lobe of the fruiting scale. It is hardy in St Petersburg. 



B. LENTA, Linnczus. BLACK or CHERRY BIRCH. 



A tree up to 70 or 80 ft. high in a wild state ; the bark of the trunk not 

 peeling, dark, almost black ; young shoots silky hairy when very young, soon 

 becoming smooth and shining brown. Leaves ovate or ovate-oblong, mostly 

 heart-shaped at the base, pointed, T.\ to 6 ins. long, i J to 3^ ins. wide, toothed 

 (often doubly so), dark glossy green and ultimately smooth above, paler green 

 and silky-hairy on the midrib and veins beneath ; veins in ten to thirteen 

 pairs ; leaf-stalk to i in. long, hairy. Male catkins 2 to 3 ins. long. Fruiting 

 catkins i in. or rather more long, \ in. in diameter, scarcely stalked ; scales not 

 downy, the lateral lobes rather wider than the middle one. 



Native of Eastern N. America, where it yields a valuable timber ; intro- 

 duced in 1759, according to Aiton. When bruised, the young bark has a 

 sweet, aromatic taste and smell, and by distillation yields an aromatic oil. 

 This birch is allied to B. lutea, but differs in the darker bark of the trunk, the 

 sweeter tasted young bark, and especially by the smooth scales of the fruit 

 catkin. In my experience it is not so well-doing a tree as B. lutea in this 

 country. 



B. LUTEA, Michaux. YELLOW BIRCH. 



A tree up to 100 ft. high in a wild state ; bark of the trunk yellowish brown 

 when newly revealed by the curling back of the outer layer ; young wood 

 more or less hairy the first summer. Leaves dull green, ovate or ovate-oblong, 

 i\ to 4|- ins. long, half as wide ; tapered, rounded, or heart-shaped at the 

 base,- pointed, doubly toothed ; hairy on the margin, midrib, and chief veins, 

 becoming smooth above by the end of the season ; veins in about twelve 

 pairs. Fruiting catkins i to \\ ins. long, erect, f in. thick ; scales conspicu- 

 ously downy on the outside and margins, the lobes about equal in size, oblong. 

 The young bark has a bitter taste. 



Native of Eastern N. America ; introduced in the latter half of the eighteenth 

 century. It is a handsome birch, and might be more extensively planted. It 

 is distinct in the colour of the newly exposed bark of the trunk. It is some- 

 times confused with B. lenta, under which the distinctions are pointed out. 



B. LYALLIANA, Koehne, 



There is a good deal of confusion in regard to this tree, and it has been 

 called B. occidentalis (Sargent) ; B. papyrifera var. Lyalliana (Koehne) ; and 

 B. papyracea var. occidentalis (Dippel). The name occidentalis was founded 

 by the elder Hooker in 1839, on specimens of three distinct birches. As it 

 might with equal propriety be given to any one of them, it is better to drop it 

 altogether. B. Lyalliana is one of the very finest of birches, and reaches 

 sometimes 120 ft. in height ; bark reddish brown to whitish, peeling. Young 

 shoots warted, downy, yellowish brown. Leaves ovate with a rounded or 



