BIRCH. 277 
smaller tree. In Russia the bark is used in the tanning of 
leather, for its preservative qualities and delightful odor. Many 
parts of the tree are used in pharmacy. 
Varietics—There is a large number of cultivated varieties of 
the European White Birch, among which the following is the 
most highly esteemed. 
Betula alba pendula laciniata. Cutleaf Weeping 
Birch. 
This is a very handsome tree, with finely divided leaves and 
a drooping habit to the smaller branches. Desirable for lawn 
and park planting in retentive 
moist soil, but is very short-lived 
in dry locations. 
Betula nigra. River Birch. 
Red Birch. 
Leaves broadly ovate, acute or 
obtuse at apex, wedge-shaped at 
base, irregularly serrate or some- 
what lobed; when mature dark 
green and glabrous above, pale 
and glabrous or tomentose be- 
neath. Flowers open in early 
spring; staminate catkins mostly 
clustered in twos or threes, two 
and one-half to three and one- 
third inches long; pistillate cat- 
Figure 58. Leaf of Cut- e : é 
leaf Birch. One-half natural kins soft downy, oblong, cylindri- 
Size. . . ‘ 
cal; catkins in fruit one to one 
and one-half inches long and about one-half inch in diameter; 
fruiting bracts tomentose, about equally lobed; not broadly 
ovate and wider than its wings, pubescent at its base; bark red- 
dish brown. Sometimes a large tree, but very often made up 
of spreading stems, forming a low, bushy tree. 
Distribution—Massachusetts to Minnesota and south to Flor- 
ida and Texas, where it attains its largest size. Generally found 
along river banks and in moist places. 
Propagation.—By seeds, which ripen in June, and should be 
sown at once, making plants eight to ten inches high by autumn. 
