^64 AMENTACE/E. [Betula. 



Tribe II. Betvline^, Lindl. 



" Flowers all in catkins. Fruit naked, indehiscent, membranous, 

 2-celled, ivith solitary ovules. Seeds pendulous, not comose." — 

 Lindl. Syn. 



III. Betula, Li?in. Birch. 



" Barren flowers : — Perianth 0. Stamens 8 — 13, with 2 — 3 

 small scales at the base (indicating 2 — 3 flowers, each of 4 sta- 

 mens). — Fertile flowers : — Scale of the catkin 3-lobed, 3-flowered. 

 Perianth 0. Fruit with a membranaceous margin." — Br. Fl. 



1. B. aJ&a, L. Common Birch. "Leaves ovato-deltoid acute 

 doubly serrated, fruit broadly obovate with a broad margin." — ■ 

 Br. Fl. p. 379. E. B. t. 2198. Fl. Dan. ix. t. 1467. 



In 'moist as well as in dry heathy or hilly woods and copses; frequent. Ft. 

 April, May. Tj. 



E. Med. — Quart copse, &c. Plentiful on the hill at Apse castle. Young- 

 wood's copse, by Newchurch, in plenty. Copse close to Kemphill farm, on the 

 North side, opposite Stroud wood, from which it is only separated by the road 

 from Aldermoor mill to Coppid hall, in some plenty, but possibly planted, 1850. 



W. Med. — JMarvell copse, near Newport, consists in a great measure of this 

 tree, of which there are many apparently very aged and tolerably fine specimens. 

 Wood along the new cut between Newport and Ryde. 



A tree, in more northern climates, of very large size, 70 or 80 feet in height, in 

 this island of but moderate stature, seldom exceeding 30 or 40 feet, the trunk 

 slender in proportion and covered with a whitish ash-coloured bark, transversely 

 banded with pui'plish brown, which detaches itself in broad plates, the branches 

 very numerous, alternate or irregular, tough, dark purplish, very slender, twiggy 

 and flexible at their extremities. Leaves* alternate, in pairs from the same bud, 

 glutinous and somewhat hairy when young, liable to some variation in shape, 

 commonly ovate or somewhat deltoid, very acute, unequally, doubly and sharply 

 serrated, entire at the base, with straight parallel ribs, bright shining green above, 

 paler and somewhat hairy beneath about the midrib and along the petiole, and 

 having both surfaces sprinkled with minute resinous dots, making them roughish 

 and clammy to the touch, especially when young. Catkins opening with the 

 leaves and fully expanding with them about the third week in April. Siaminate 

 catkins terminal, solitary or clustered 2 or 3 together, sessile, lax or pendulous, 

 from about 1^^ inch to 3 inches long and about 2 lines in width, cylindrical, slen- 

 der, obtuse. Floral bracts (scales) closely imbricated, peltate, the central bract 

 flat, roundish rhomboidal or nearly orbicular, somewhat pentagonal, sometimes 

 slightly pointed and mucronulate, brownish at the apex, their margins fringed ; 

 the 2 lateral bracts nearly concealed beneath the former, close under and parallel 

 with them, their margins only projecting on either side, flat and roundish, but 

 thinner and more membranaceous, erose and ciliated on the margins. Perianth 



* The leaves of the Birch afibvd nourishment to the larva of the Camberwell 

 beauty {Vanessa Antiopa), one of our rarest and most elegant butterflies, the 

 periodical appearance of which in Britain is a matter of curious speculation to the 

 naturalist. In 1839 several specimens were seen in Quarr copse by different per- 

 sons, and one was captured in the same wood by my servant, but escaped in his 

 endeavour to secure the prize. 



