72 THE PRINCIPAL SPECIES OF WOOD. 



Red Birch. Betula nigra Linn. 



Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) 



Red Birch (local and common Ala., Miss., Tex., Mo., 



name). 111., Wis., Ohio). 



Black Birch (Fla., Tenn., Birch (N. C., S. C, Miss., 



Tex.). La.). 



River Birch (Mass., R. I., Water Birch (W. Va., Kans.). 



N. J., Del., Pa., W. Va., Blue Birch (Ark.). 



Locality. 



Massachusetts to Florida, westward intermittently to Minnesota 

 and Texas. Best development in south Atlantic and lower 

 Mississippi valley regions. 



Features of Tree. 



Thirty to eigthy feet in height, one to three feet in diameter, 

 sometimes larger. Dark red brown scaly bark on trunk. 

 Red to silvery-white bark on branches. Bark separates in 

 thin paper-like scales curling outward. 



Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood. 



Heartwood light brown, sapwood yellowish white. Close- 

 grained, compact structure. 



Structural Qualities of Wood. 

 Light, rather hard and strong. 



Representative Uses of Wood. 



Furniture, woodenware, shoe-lasts, ox-yokes. Inferior cask- 

 hoops from branches. 



Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot. 



35- 

 Modulus of Elasticity. 



1,580,000. 

 Modulus of Rupture. 



13, 100. 



Remarks. 



Dark brown bark, whence name Red Birch. Prefers moist 

 bottoms, whence name River Birch. 



