3 6 4 



THE BIRCH. 



architecture, are the small triangular leaves, which hang on delicate 

 pedicels, and twist and flutter with every passing breeze. Sometimes 

 from the upper side of a pendent bough there springs a short upright 

 branch that curves downwards after the fashion of a shepherd's crook. 

 When the peats are stacked on the moors, sturdy little catkins, borne 

 on the tip of every twig and very plainly seen, mark the time of 

 year for the tree, and when the dead heather blooms make a russet 

 carpet on the hills, patterned with crimson Bilberry leaves, the Birches 

 too, in their veils of yellow, bear witness to the first frosts of autumn. 



THE LEAF . 



The leaves, even when fully developed, vary in size and shape, 

 the triangular form being the most characteristic, while the leaf of 



a young tree is usually 

 larger than that of an old 

 one. Two common forms 

 are shown in the diagram. 

 The upper side is dark 

 green and shining, the 

 under side dull, lighter in 

 colour, and smooth, with 

 the ribs showing clearly. 

 The leaves are arranged 

 alternately along the shoot, 

 in three rows, so that the first is in line with the fourth, the second 

 in line with the fifth, and so on. This arrangement, however, is not 

 noticeable in the spring time ; then the young leaves, after leaving 

 their first vertical position, spread horizontally, and appear to form a 

 pair, the one directly opposite the other, with the fertile catkin 



