ii8 



THE BIRCH FAMILY 



This birch is indeed a child of the south for none other of the genus is 

 known to grow in a climate so warm as that of Louisiana, Florida and Texas. 

 In fact through the middle and in particular parts of the southenn states it 

 is very common and with its pendulous, graceful branches Is always a 

 charming individual. An interesting point in connection with it is the wis- 

 dom it displays in the matter of securing a good 

 footing for its young seeds. Growing as it does 

 along river banks it finds it 

 necessary to use some diplomacy 

 and to adapt itself to its sur- 

 roundings. Therefore m June, 

 or even earlier, it ripens its 

 seeds which as they then fall in 

 the soft, receptive 

 soil have a good op- 

 portunity to live and 

 to grow. Before the 

 cold weather comes 

 on its seedlings are 

 often a foot high 

 and have sufficient 

 strength to with- 

 stand the swelling 

 and washings of the 

 stream. Should this 

 tree, however, delay to mature its seeds until the autumn, as is customary 

 with the genus, they would have some difficulty in finding a resting place in the 

 w^ater-washed soil. Through the winter the river birch has an open, feath- 

 ery look which is very attractive. It grows also in soil that is comparatively 

 dry. Through New England it is known but is there rare and very local. 



B. littea, yellow birch, grey birch, possesses as its peculiar charm a bark 

 different from that of any other tree. Its outermost part is formed of a 

 film-like skin which curls away from the stem in strips. In certain lights it 

 looks a ruddy gold with always, however, a silvery sheen. Through the 

 winter when the earth is bare there is much to attract the eye in this unique 

 characteristic, although often when tlie tree grows in the open it becomes 

 dull and has a weather-beaten air. In the spring the terminal, staminate 

 aments, usually borne in clusters, and showing their yellow anthers, appear 

 like well-marked caterpillars ; the pistillate ones are demure, brown little 

 things and hidden away below the others. On the upper slopes of the 

 AUeghanies the tree occurs in abundance. 



