Betula. 



BETULACE.E. 9? 



Wood soft, strong, brittle, close-grained, compact; medullary rays 

 numerous, obscure; color light brown, the sap-wood lighter; somewhat 

 used for fencing, fuel, etc. 



297. Betula lutea, Michx. f. 

 Yellow Birch. Gray Birch. 



Newfoundland, northern shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the 

 western shores of Lake Superior and Rainy Lake, south through the north- 

 ern States to Delaware and southern Minnesota, and along the Alleghany 

 Mountains to the high peaks of North Carolina and Tennessee. 



The largest and one of the most valuable deciduous trees of the north- 

 ern Atlantic forests, often 21 to 29 metres in height, with a trunk 0.90 to 

 1.20 metres in diameter ; rich woodlands ; common. 



Wood heavy, very strong and hard, very close-grained, compact, satiny, 

 susceptible of a beautiful polish ; medullary rays numerous, obscure ; color 

 light brown tinged with red, the heavier sap-wood nearly white ; largely 

 used for fuel, in the manufacture of furniture, button and tassel moulds, 

 pill and match boxes, and for the hubs of wheels. 



298. Betula nigra, L. 



Red Birch. River Birch. 



Banks of the Merrimac and Spicket Rivers, Massachusetts, Long 

 Island, New York, south through the coast and middle districts to western 

 Florida, west to western Iowa, northwestern Missouri, eastern Kansas, 

 the Indian Territory, and the valley of the Trinity River, Texas. 



A tree 18 to 24 metres in height, with a trunk rarely exceeding 0.75 

 metre in diameter ; banks of streams and ponds ; very common and 

 reaching its greatest development in the South Atlantic and Gulf States. 



Wood light, rather hard, strong, close-grained, compact ; medullary 

 rays numerous, obscure ; color brown, the sap-wood much lighter ; used in 

 the manufacture of furniture, wooden-ware, wooden shoes, ox-yokes, etc. 



299. Betula lenta, L. 



Cherry Birch. Black Birch. Siveet Birch. Mahogany Birch. 



Newfoundland and the valley of the Saguenay River, west through 

 Ontario to the islands of Lake Huron, south to northern Delaware and 

 southern Indiana, and along the Alleghany Mountains to western Florida, 

 extending west to middle Kentucky and Tennessee. 



A tree 18 to 24 metres in height, with a trunk 0.90 to 1.50 metres in 

 diameter ; rich woods ; very common in all northern forests. 



Wood heavy, very strong and hard, close-grained, compact, satiny, 

 susceptible of a beautiful polish ; medullary rays numerous, obscure ; 

 color dark brown tinged with red, the sap-wood light brown or yellow ; 

 now largely used in the manufacture of furniture and for fuel ; in Nova 

 Scotia and New Brunswick largely in ship-building. 



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