422 :sE^Y exglaxd trees ix winter. 



PAPER BIRCH 



Canoe or White Birch. 



Betula alba, var. papyrifera (Harsh.) Spach. 

 B. papyrifera !Marsh. 



HABIT — A larg-e tree, 50-75 ft. or occasionally more in height with 

 a Lrunk diameter uf 1-3 ft.; developing- whfii not crowded an open, 

 irregular, rounded head, with numerous branches and erect branchlets. 



BARK — Trunk and older branches chalky-white, peeling- or easily 



separated into thin paper-like layers of a delicate pinkish to yellowish 

 ting-e where not exposed to the sun, with conspicuous, horizontally 

 elong:ated, raised lenticels; inner bark reddish-orang:e yellow. With ag-e 

 the outer bark rolls back in rag"ged slieets and the trunk becomes more 

 or less black-streaked and blotched and the base roug^h and fissured 

 into larg-e irregular thick scales. The bark of the Paper Birch is much 

 sought after by visitors in the woods for use as letter paper, small 

 picture frames and other souvenir articles. In consequence trees of 

 this species in the neighborhood of picnic grounds generally are 

 despoiled of their bark and even its close-barked relative the Gray 

 Bir<_'h is not immune from attacks of th<:>se who are ignorant of the 

 difference in hark characters between the two species. 



TAVIGS — Stouter than those of the Gray Birch; smooth or somewhat 

 hairy, reddish-brown. LENTICELS^ — pale, orange colored dots becoming 

 horizontally elongated. LEAF- SCARS — 2 -ranked, resembling those of 

 the Gray Birch. 



BUDS — About .'-10 mm. long, ovate, pointed, divergent. BUD-SCALES 

 — downy on margins. 



FRIrIT — A short-stalked, cylindrical, smooth catkin 2-5 cm. long; 

 scales 4-6 mni. lung", with thick lateral lobes, hairy-margined ; seed- 

 like nutlet, narrower than the wings; staminate catkins in 2's or usually 

 in 3's. 



COMPARISOXS — The Paper Birch, as known to woodsmen, is distin- 

 guislied by its chalk\"-\vhite bark peeling into thin papery layers. A 

 number of botanically more or less distinct separate varieties and 

 species have been recognized but Betula alba, var. papyrifera is the most 

 common. The peeling of its bark distinguishes it from the Gray Birch. 

 The exposed outer bark is more distinctly white and the dark triangular 

 patches noticeable at the insertion of branches in the Gray Birch are 

 often absent especially on older trunks or less distinct. The bark 

 does not typically form the ragged fringe characteristic of the Yellow 

 Birch and while it may not show the characteristic chalky-white where 

 it has peeled, the color is not a dingy yellow but some delicate shade, 

 g^enerally of cinnamon. 



DISTRIBl'TIOX — Deep, rich 'U'-oods, river hanks, mountain slopes. 

 Canada. Atlantic to Pacific, north "u^ard to La lira dor and Alaska to the 

 limit of deciduous trees; south to Pennsylvania and Illinois; west to the 

 Flocky mountains and Washington on the Pacific coast. 



IN NEW ENGLAND — Maine — abundant; New Hampshire- — in all sec- 

 tions, most common on highlands up to the aljune ari-a of the White 

 Mountains, above the range of the Yellow Birch: Vermont — common; 

 Massachusetts^ — -common in the western and central sections, rare 

 towards the coast; Rhode Island — not reported. 



IN CONNECTICUT — Rare near the coast. Lyme. Huntington, becoming 

 occasional northward and frequent in Litchfield county. 



WOOD — Light, strong, hard, tough, very close-grained, light brown, 

 tinged with red, with thick nearly w^hite sap wood; largely used for 

 spools, shoe-lasts, pegs and in turnery, the manufacture of wood pulp 

 and for fuel. The tough resinous durable bark impervious to water is 

 used by all the northern Indians in their cannes. and for baskets, 

 bags, drinking cups and other small articles, and often to cover their 

 wigwams in winter. 



