THE BIRCH FAMILY. 117 



out the glass-like bristles of Corylus rostrata. This indeed is the shrub 

 known to almost every country urchin and which wIkmi its catkins begin to 

 loosen and its golden pollen to fall proclaims loudly the coming of the 

 springtime. 



SnOOTH ALDER. 



A In us n/j^osa. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Bhili. S/'readin.:: roHudrd. 2s-a,u Jfft, or Texas and l-'loridn north- Mar,, ii, A /nit. 

 a slirulK ivard and ivestward. 



Bark: sniootli ; twigs sliglitly jKibcsccnt. Stipules : early falling. Leavts: \\\\\\ 

 pubescent petioles, oVal, or obovate ; bluntly pointed or rounded at the apex anil 

 wedge shaped, or rounded at the base, irregularly and finely serrate; dark green ; 

 glabrous aliove and covered on the veins underneath with a rusty i)ubescencc. 

 Flo'uh'ys : usually appearing before or with the leaves according to the cliniat'. 

 Slaniiiiatc ameitts : yellowish brown, long ; pistillate ones shorter, thick and ovoid. 



Although there are times when the smooth alder flourishes as a tree it is 

 more usual to find that it has not had ambitions beyond that of being a 

 shrub. It is a native species growing in wet, or moist soil and is most 

 abundant in the southeastern states, where, shaking the golden pollen from 

 its catkins often on the young and striving leaves, as well as on the demure 

 pistillate blossoms, it is one of the very charming features of the opening 

 season. In European folkdore the alder is still regarded as one of the 

 spirit-haunted trees and many that have sufficient hardihood to chop it 

 down declare, that " it bleeds, weeps, and begins to speak." 



A. Alnobetula, green or mountain alder, is common among the growth of 

 the high Alleghanies, where in June its bloom unfolds at the same time as 

 its leaves. It is always a shrub, seldom becoming over ten feet high and 

 is distinctively marked by its angled and greyish young branches. Its nut 

 also is bordered all about by a fine membraneous wing. The leaves are 

 oval, or ovate, and on their undersides, even at maturity, there is some 

 brownish pubescence. 



RIVER BIRCH. RED BIRCH. 



Bctula ingra. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Birch. S/>ri-adiii^ or 30-90 yi't/. Florida northivard. .i/>rii,Ma\. 



drooping. 



Bark : reddish brown ; dotted and peeling, not as the white birches but becom- 

 ing loose and hanging in thin, light brown sheets. Ticios ; darkly ct)loured. 

 Leaves: often two together, with slender, jnibescent petioles; ovate, usually 

 j)ointed at both ends or more abruptly narrowed at the base; unequdlv and often 

 doubly serrate with entire bases; green above, whitish and pubescent underneath, 

 at least when young. Floioers: growing in long, narrow catkins. Xut : small; 

 pubescent at the apex, the broad wings ciliate on their margins. 



