Chapter VI 



THE BIRCHES, HOP HORNBEAM, AND 

 HORNBEAM 



Family Betulacece 



THE birches are a family of exceedingly 

 graceful and attractive trees, and charm 

 us quite as much in winter by the 

 color of their stems and the delicacy of their 

 twigs, as they do in summer by the fresh green 

 of their foliage. Like other trees, birches vary 

 in appearance according to the place where 

 they grow. If they are shaded by other trees 

 in the woods their trunks are tapering and tall 

 and free from branches, but when they grow in 

 open fields and the lateral branches develop, 

 their general outline is bushy and far less 

 attractive; unlike other trees, birches are im- 

 proved by not having full development. 



The birch has been known from the earliest 

 ages, and it is found in Europe, Asia, and 

 North America. 



There are distinguishing characteristics in 

 the details of buds and stems, but the color 

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