262 BETULA 



base ; young shoots downy, not warted. Leaves broadly ovate, i to 2% ins. 

 long, i to 2 ins. wide ; usually tapered, sometimes rounded or slightly heart- 

 shaped at the base ; pointed, coarsely toothed ; upper surface thinly downy at 

 first ; lower one downy on the midrib and veins, sometimes only in the vein- 

 axils, sometimes over the whole surface ; veins in five to seven pairs ; stalk 

 more or less downy, ^ to f in. long. Fruiting catkins about I in. long ; lobes 

 of scale minutely downy, side ones rounded, terminal one ovate. 



Native of Europe (including Britain) and N. Asia, and one of the two 

 birches (the other is B. verrucosa) which make up the B. alba of Linnaeus. 

 This is' not so attractive a tree for the garden as B. verrucosa ; its bark is 

 darker, and its branching being more erect, it lacks the graceful, pendulous 

 habit of that species. It affects moister places than B. verrucosa, and is 

 especially abundant in Highland glens. Easily distinguished from typical 

 B. verrucosa by its downy, not warted twigs. Numerous forms ascribed to 

 this species have appeared, and there are some intermediate, perhaps hybrids, 

 between it and B. verrucosa. 



Var. AUREA. Leaves yellow when young ; shoots very downy. 



Var. CRENATA NANA. A dwarf round bush growing at the rate of 2 or 

 3 ins. only annually. 



Var. MURITHII, Gremli. A dwarf tree up to 10 or 15 ft. high, or a shrub. 

 It was discovered near Mauvoisin, Val de Bagne (Valais), and is only known 

 there and in one or two other localities in Switzerland. Dr Christ describes it 

 as a very pretty little tree. 



Var. PONTICA, Watson. Leaves distinctly tapered at the base, and smooth, 

 except for tufts in the vein-axils beneath ; young shoots slightly warted. 



Var. UNDULATA. Leaf-margins wavy ; shoots slightly warted. 



Var. URTICIFOLIA, Spach (B. virgultosa, Fries}. A small tree, native of 

 Sweden ; its leaves have a drawn-out apex, and are sharply double-toothed, 

 very dull green, densely downy above when young. Fruiting catkins up to 

 i^ ins. long, and more slender than in B. pubescens itself. 



The common birch produces its seeds very freely, and is, as a rule, one of 

 the first trees to find its way back to deforested areas. Like the grey 

 birch in N. America, it is sometimes useful in affording shelter for young 

 timber trees of better class. The wood is of very little value in this country 

 except as fuel, although, like alder, it is largely used to make the clogs and 

 clog-soles worn in the manufacturing towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire. A 

 fragrant oil is obtained from it that is used in the manufacture of Russian 

 leather. The bark is water-tight, and is used in the construction of roofs in 

 Sweden, etc. Under certain conditions it is curiously indestructible. I have 

 seen pieces unearthed during peat-cutting in the Highlands, which must have 

 been buried some centuries, but was still quite silvery. 



B. PUMILA, Linnceus. Low BIRCH. 



An erect-habited shrub, 2 to 9 (sometimes more) ft. high ; the young 

 shoots downy or felted, but not warty. Leaves roundish, oval or obovate, 

 \ to i^ ins. long, pointed or bluntish at the apex, coarsely toothed, more or 

 less downy on both sides, often thickly so ; pale or greyish beneath ; chief 

 veins in five or six pairs, the smaller ones in between them finely netted ; leaf- 

 stalk in. or less long. Fruiting catkins ^ to I in. long, middle lobe of 

 scales longer than the side ones. 



Native of Eastern N.America, where it inhabits boggy places from Lab- 

 rador to Ohio. It is only likely to be confused in gardens with B. humilis 

 and B. fruticosa, both of which have warted, glandular branchlets. It has little 

 merit in the garden. 



