BETULACEAE 

 Sweet Birch. Black Birch. Cherry Birch 



Betula lenta, L,* 



HABIT. A medium-sized tree 70-80 feet high, with a trunk 

 diameter of 1-3 feet; slender, wide-spreading, pendulous 'branches, 

 forming a narrow, rounded, open crown. 



LEAVES. Alternate in pairs, simple, 3-4 inches long and 

 one-half as broad; outline variable, ovate to oblong-ovate; sharp- 

 ly doubly serrate, with slender, incurved teeth ; dull, dark green 

 above, light yellow-green beneath; petioles short, stout, 'hairy, 

 deeply grooved above ; aromatic. 



FLOWERS. April, before the leaves ; monoecious ; the 

 staminate catkins 3-4 inches long, slender, pendent, yellowish ; the 

 pistillate catkins ^-^ inch long, erect or suberect, greenish. 



FRUIT. Ripens in autumn; sessile, glabrous, erect strobiles, 

 i-i l /2 inch long and half as thick; scales glabrous; nuts slightly 

 broader than their wings. 



WINTER-B'UDS. Terminal bud absent; lateral buds about 

 J4 inch long, conical, sharp-pointed, red-brown, divergent. 



BARK. Twigs light green, becoming lustrous, red-brown in 

 their first winter ; very dark on old trunks, cleaving off in thick, 

 irregular plates. Resembles bark of Black Cherry. Inner bark 

 aromatic, spicy. 



WOOD. Heavy, very hard and strong, close-grained, dark 

 red-brown, with thin, lighter colored sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Scattered throughout the state; rare in 

 the south, more abundant and of larger size in the north. 



HABITAT. Grows in any situation, but prefers moist, 

 rocky slopes and rich uplands. 



NOTES. Hardy throughout its range. Easily transplanted. 



* A discussion has recently arisen as to whether Betula lenta 

 actually exists in the state, some botanists preferring the name 

 B. alleghanensis, Britt. for the tree we have so long called 

 Black Birch. Pending further investigation the authors have 

 thought best to retain the old name. 



Ref.-Britton: North American Trees, pp. 257-8. 

 87 



