DECIDUOUS TREES. 81 
usually quite thin; trees with a large amount of small 
spray, more or less graceful in habit. 
Berura arpa ( White Birch).—Leaves triangular, taper- 
pointed ; a small, slender tree with white bark; wood soft ; 
Fig. 21. 
decays rapidly ; of little value; common throughout the 
North in poor soils. The catkins of the B. alba as they ap- 
pear the first season are shown in fig. 21. These remain till 
the second year, when the blossom and seed are produced. 
Beruta papyracea (Paper Birch, Canoe Birch).— 
Leaves heart-shaped, somewhat wedge-shaped, pointed; 
a large tree with fine-grained wood ; bark very tough; 
formerly used by the Indians for making their canoes; 
common in the more Northern States and Canada. 
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