1704- 



ARBORETUM AND FRUT1ETUM. 



PART III 



1555 



trees. This is a very singular fungus ; it is composed 

 of folds radiating from the centre, with a beautifully 

 radiated margin; it was found at Appin, in Argyllshire. 

 SphaeVia multifdrmis Fries is also found on the birch. 

 To this list may be added Agariciis muscarius L. 

 (Jig. 1555.), the fly agaric, the most poisonous of all 

 the genus, which is generally found in birch woods. 

 It is highly narcotic, producing, in small doses, intox- 

 ication and delirium, for which purpose it is used in 

 Kamtschatka; and, in larger doses, death. For a de- 

 tailed account of its poisonous effects, see Roque's 

 Hist, des Champ. , p. 123. ; and a paper by Dr. Greville, 

 in the 4th vol. of the Wernerian Trans., from which 

 an extract is given by Dr. Lindley, Introd. to Nat. 

 Syst. of Sot., p. 337. (Eng. Ft., vol. v. p. 4.) 



Statistics. Recorded Trees. A weeping birch, at Ballogie, in the parish of Birse, in Aberdeenshire, 

 measured, in 1798, 5ft. in circumference at 4ft from the ground. It had a clear straight stem, about 

 50ft. high, of nearly equal thickness throughout ; and the total height of the tree was supposed to 

 be about 100ft. (Stat. Hist., vol. ix. p. 129.) In the Forest of Tarnawa, in Morayshire, there are 

 several birches which girt 9ft, at 4 ft. from the ground. (Ibid., vol. viii. p. 557.) Sir Thomas Dick 

 Lauder says that there are now many in the same forest which girt 10 ft. and 11 ft. ; and he measured 

 one which girted 13 ft. at 3ft. from the ground. (Lauder's GUpin, vol. i. p. 28:3.) In France, in the 

 time of Du Hamel, there was a superb weeping birch at Ermenonville, which stood beside the 

 Temple of Philosophy, in the park, and hung over part of the building. 



Existing Trees. In the environs of London, in the Fulham Nursery, 40 years planted, it is 50 ft. 

 high. In Dorsetshire, at Melbury Park, 50 years planted, it is 72ft. high ; in Wiltshire, at Wardour 

 Castle, 40 years planted, it is 60ft. high, diameter of the trunk 2ft., and that of the head 30ft. 

 In Scotland, in Haddingtonshire, at Yester, 80 years planted, it is 73 ft. high, diameter of the 

 trunk 4 ft. 6 in., and of the head 78 ft. ; in Forfarshire, at Kinnaird, 100 years planted, it is 70 ft. high, 

 the diameter of the trunk 3ft., and of the head 54ft. ; in Perthshire, at Taymouth, B. alba pendula 

 is 64 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft., and of the head 50 ft. ; in Ross-shire, at Brahan Castle, 

 the species is 70 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft, and of the head 30 ft. In Ireland, in the 

 Glasnevin Botanic Garden, 35 years planted, it is 36ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft., and of the 

 head 16 ft. ; in Tyrone, at Baron's Court, it is 60 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 4 in., and of the head 

 50ft. In France, at Avranches, in the B6tanic Garden, 19 years old, it is 49 ft. high, the diameter 

 of the trunk 2| ft., and of the head 20 ft. In Bavaria, in the Botanic Garden at Munich, 24 years 

 planted, it is 28 ft! high. In Austria, at Vienna, at Laxenburg, 25 years old, it is 20 ft. high. In 

 Prussia, at Berlin, at Sans Souci, 35 years old, the species is 5()ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 

 2 ft., and of the head 19 ft. In Sweden, at Lund, in the Botanic Garden, 52 ft. high, the diameter of 

 the trunk 9 in., and of the head 18ft. In Denmark, at Rosenburg, it is between 70 ft. and 80ft. 

 high. In Russia, near St. Petersburg, at Rudets, on the estate of Madame Constantinoff, 40 years 

 old, it is 71 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 15 in. In Lombardy, at Monza, 24 years old, it is 

 45 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft, and of the head 20 ft. 



* 2. B. DAU V RICA Pall. The Daurian Birch. 



Identification. Pall. Ross., 1. p. 60. ; Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 463. ; Baum., p. 57. ; N. Du Ham., 3. 



p. 204. ; Hayne Dend., p. 166. 



Sunonvmes. B. excelsa cauadensis Wane. Beitr., p. 86.; Bouleau de Siberie, Fr. 

 Engravings. Pall. Ross., 1. t. 39. ; Willd. Baum., t 1. f. 3. and 4. ; and our fig. 1556. 



Spec. Char.y $c. Leaves ovate, narrow at the base, quite entire, unequally 

 dentate, glabrous. Scales of the strobiles ciliated on their margins ; side 

 lobes roundish. (Willd. Sp. PI., iv. p. 463.) This spe- 

 cies, according to Pallas, its discoverer, is closely allied 

 to B. alba, and is found along with that species in* 

 Dauria, and part of Asiatic Siberia ; but it is not found ' 

 in European Siberia, nor in Russia. It does not grow 

 so tall as the common birch, and the trunk does not 

 exceed 1 ft. in diameter. The bark is grey, cleft longi- 

 tudinally, and divided into brown scales, that have the 

 appearance of being burnt. The branches are more 

 subdivided, and more upright, than those of B. alba. 

 The leaves- are broader, commonly smaller, on shorter 

 petioles, and unequally serrated. The stipules are 

 lanceolate, grey, subpubescent, and deciduous. The 

 male catkins are produced at the ends of the twigs of 

 the foregoing year, two or three together, larger than 

 in the common birch; the females are on the same 

 twigs, lateral, thicker, with larger and more rounded 

 scales ; the seed, also, is a little longer ; but the niem- 



1556 



