FOREST TREES. 59 
2. Betula eacelsu2—Yellow Birch. 
Leaves ovate or elliptical, pointed, smoothish, 
unequally serrate; fertile catkins, ovoid, oblong, 
slightly hairy; lobes of the scales nearly equal, acute, 
diverging slightly. 
Notwithstanding its specific name of excelsa, this 
tree does not exceed some other species of Birch in 
stature. It is a beautiful tree, sometimes ‘sixty or 
seventy feet high, with a straight trunk of nearly 
uniform diameter for thirty or forty feet. In open 
ground its branches are numerous, forming a conical 
head. Its twigs are aromatic, but less so than those 
of the Black Birch. It isa northern tree, growing 
in cool, moist, and sometimes in wet lands. It thrives 
well on the Illinois prairies, butis not adapted to dry, 
sandy, or gravelly soils. Fuller‘says the wood is of 
little value. It is nevertheless considered excellent 
fuel where it grows; it is strong, fine grained, proper 
for turning, and makes handsome furniture, though 
inferior for that purpose to the Black Birch. The 
seeds ripen in October, and are treated like those of 
the preceding species. 
3. Betula nigra—Red Birch, River Birch. 
Leaves rhombic-obovate, acutish at both ends, 
whitish and downy underneath; fertile catkins, ob- 
long, woolly. 
When full grown, this is a lofty tree, seventy feet 
high, and two feet in diameter. The specific name 
nigra is of unfortunate application to this species, 
since the B. lenta is every way darker in appearance, 
