81 
swamp; Miami (Gorby); Noble (Van Gorder) as rare; Steuben 
(Bradner). 
Additional records are: Crawford, Laporte, Porter and Steuben 
(Deam). 
Economic uses. Occurring in too limited numbers to be of 
economic importance. 
2. Betula nigra Linnaeus. Bircu. Water Brrcu. Rep Bircu. 
Plate 36. Bark on young trees and on the branches separating 
freely into large, thin papery scales which roll back and usually 
persist for years; young twigs hairy, becoming smooth and reddish, 
hence the common name “red birch’’; leaves rhombic-ovate, smooth 
above, pubescent beneath, rarely nearly glabrous, irregularly toothed, 
taper-pointed at apex, short wedge-shaped at base, usually broadly 
so; staminate catkins 6-9 em. (214-31 inches) long. flowers expand in 
March, April or May; mature fertile catkins 2-5 em. (24-2 inches) 
long, about 1 cm. (%% inch) thick, erect or spreading, on short hairy 
stalks; bracts velvety, ciliate, the three lobes nearly equal and fre- 
quently tipped with dark brown; nuts ovate, the wing as broad or 
broader than the body. 
Distribution. Massachusetts to Minnesota, south to the Gulf 
States and west to Texas. In Indiana it is found principally in 
the southern part of the state along streams or in the “‘flats’’, which 
are inundated a part of each year. In the flats it is most frequently 
associated with the soft maples, sweet gum and pecan, and some- 
times forms the principal stand. In the hilly parts of the State in 
the range of its distribution it is confined to the low banks of streams 
where it is frequent or rare. Along the streams it is usually found 
to have a short crooked trunk, but in the flats it is a tall straight 
tree. In size in our area it ranges from 2-8 dm. (8-32 inches) in 
diameter and 10-30 m. (33-97 feet) high. It is doubtful if it occurs 
in Indiana east of Jefferson County, or in the area bounded on the 
south by the C. H. & D. Railroad west of Indianapolis and the Big 
Four between Indianapolis and Cincinnati, and on the north by the 
Wabash Railroad between Fort Wayne and Lafayette. In the 
northern counties it is rare and local, except along the course of 
Yellow River, in Marshall and Starke counties, where it is found 
more or less frequently. In Posey County, in the vicinity of Hovey 
Lake, it is the principal stand, and it is here that it attains its 
greatest. development. 
The published records of the distribution are as follows: Clark 
(Baird and Taylor) and (Smith); Gibson (Schneck); Jackson, Lake 
and Martin (Blatchley); Knox (Ridgway); Miami (Gorby); vicinity 
