420 KEW EXGLAXD TUEES IX "WINTER. 



GRAY BIRCH 



Old-field, White, Poverty, Small White or Poplar Birch. 



Betula populifolia Marsh. 



HABIT — A small short-lived tree, 20-3 5 ft. in height with a trunk 

 diameter of generally less than 1 ft., commonly growing- in clumps; 

 trunk slender, generally inclined to one side, continuous into tup of tree, 

 with a fringe from top tu buttom of short slender brandies which grow 

 upward for a short distance but soon bend downward, with delicate 

 spray forming a narrow, open, pyramidal, pointed head. 



BARK — Dull ehalivy-whit e. close, not peeling, with distinct dark 

 triangular patches below insertion of branches; inner bark reddish- 

 orange yello\v; base of older tref s iiearl>' black and roughened by 

 irregular fissures; young trunks and branches bright reddish-brown. 



TA\"I(;S — Sleuiler, bright reddish-bi-ii\\-n w gra\"ish. becoming "U'ith age 

 dull clialky- white, much nuight-nt-d Vjy warty resinous exudations. 

 LI-]XTI<_'EIjS — pale, raised duts beuunung with age conspicuous and hori- 

 zontally ebjngatf d. 



I.KAF-S<_'ARS — Alternate, 2-ranked, small, with characters of the 

 g"enus. 



RIDS — Small, about 5 mm. or generally' less in length, smooth, snme- 

 "U'bat rt- si nous especially T\''ithin. o^'ate. pointed, di\'ergent. BUD- 

 SCALES — finely downy on margins, 3-4 visible. 



l-"Ul"l'r — An erect or pendant, slender- stalked, narroT\'-c>"Mndric'al cat- 

 ki n. 1 . 'i to o.." cm. loni^: scales minute 2-4 mm. bjug, finel\- downy \vith 

 broad lateral recurved lobes, and narro^v middle lolte suggesting the 

 silhoiiett e of a soaring birfl ; seed -like nutlet, minute, narrower than 

 the wings. Staminate catkin usually solitary. 



CC^rPARISOXS — The Gray Tlirch resembles the Paper Birch in having 

 whitish outer hark. The l>ark how^ever is a dingier gray atid does 

 ■ ' " - - -- --A 



conspicuously roughened ■n'ith resinous dots Tvhile those of the t'wigs 

 of the Paper Birch are in general not so roughened except slightly 

 in certain varieties. The Gray Birch is less inclined to produce large 

 limbs and the numerous small branches are rather strongly pendant 

 after leaving the trunk. Tlie speci-^s is short lived, never forming a 

 large tree, and is m<.>st fre^Luently met with as a waste-land tree. 



DTSTRIBTTIOX — Dry, gravelly soils, occasional in swamps and fre- 

 quent alon^- tlieir borders, often springing up on burnt lands and usually 

 the first tT'ee t'"> take possession rif abandoned or neglected fields ; rift en 

 difficult to eradioate as it sprroits readily from the cut stump. Xova 

 Scotia to Lake Ontario; south, mostly in the coast region, to Delaware; 

 west to Lake Ontario. 



TX 'SKW PX(^.L.\xn — iln ine — nbumlant: X>w Hnmpshire^abundant 

 enstwaril. as far nortli as <;''>nwa\- and abmg tlie Connecticut to West- 

 miireland: Verninnt — eonimon in llie w>-'Stern and freiiuent in the si.uith- 

 ern se<.t ions ; Massa<.hu setts and PJiode Island — cmmiin. 



IX C0XXE(:T1 CUT— Common. 



WOOD — TJgiit, soft, not strong, close-grained, not durable, light 

 bro-\vn. Willi thick nearly white sapwood; used in tlie manufacture of 

 spools, shoe pegs and wood pulp, for the hoops <-<t barrels and largely 

 for fuel. 



