158 Eleventh Annual Report 



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. Birch. Water Birch. Red Birch. 

 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 cm. (23/^-3}/^ inches) long, flowers expand in 

 March, April or May; mature fertile catkins 2-5 cm. (^-2 inches) 

 long, about 1 cm. (^ inch) thick, erect or spreading, on short hairy 

 stalks; bracts velvety, cihate, 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 pubhshed 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 



