BIRCH. 



277 



smaller tree. In Russia the bark is used in the tanning of 

 leather, for its preservative qualities and delightful odor. Many 

 parts of the tree are used in pharmacy. 



Varieties. There is a large number of cultivated varieties of 

 the European White Birch, among which the following is the 

 most highly esteemed. 



Betula alba pendula laciniata. Ciitleaf Weeping 

 Birch. 



This is a very handsome tree, with finely divided leaves and 

 a drooping habit to the smaller branches. Desirable for lawn 



and park planting in retentive 

 moist soil, but is very short-lived 

 in dry locations. 



Betula nigra. River Birch. 



Red Birch. 



Leaves broadly ovate, acute or 

 obtuse at apex, wedge-shaped at 

 base, irregularly serrate or some- 

 what lobed; when mature dark 

 green and glabrous above, pale 

 and glabrous or tomentose be- 

 neath. Flowers open in early 

 spring; staminate catkins mostly 

 clustered in twos or threes, two 

 and one-half to three and one- 

 third inches- long; pistillate cat- 

 kins soft downy, oblong, cylindri- 

 cal; catkins in fruit one to one 

 and one-half inches long and about one-half inch in diameter; 

 fruiting bracts tomentose, about equally lobed; not broadly 

 ovate and wider than its wings, pubescent at its base; bark red- 

 dish brown. Sometimes a large tree, but very often made up 

 of spreading stems, forming a low, bushy tree. 



Distribution. Massachusetts to Minnesota and south to Flor- 

 ida and Texas, where it attains its largest size. Generally found 

 along river banks and in rnoist places. 



Propagation: By seeds, which ripen in June, and should be 

 sown at once, making plants eight to ten inches high by autumn. 



Figure 58. Leaf of Cut- 

 leaf Birch. One-half natural 

 size. 



