60 FOREST TREES. 
and is known as Black Birch wherever it grows. The 
epithet rubra, applied to it by Michaux, best desig- 
nates the appearance of the Red Birch, but is 
discarded by most botanists. 
The Red Birch is found only on the banks of rivers, 
but will thrive in other localities. Of all the Birches, 
this is found in the warmest latitudes, and it is 
doubtless best adapted to cultivation south of latitude 
40°. Its wood is similar in quality to that of the 
Yellow Birch. The seeds ripen in the beginning of 
June, and must be sown immediately, and the young 
plants shaded from the sun as they come up. 
4. Betula papyracea—Canoe Birch. 
Leaves, ovate, taper-pointed, heart-shaped or abrupt 
at the base; smooth-above, dull underneath. 
The Canoe Birch is a northern tree, found from 
New England to Wisconsin, and northward. It is 
rarely, if ever, met with south of latitude 42°. It 
grows to the height of seventy feet, with a diameter 
of three feet. Itis said to be found eighteen or twenty 
feet in circumference in the British possessions near 
the Red and Saskatchewan rivers. The bark is of a 
brilliant white, and is used by the Indians and fur 
traders of the north in the construction of canoes. 
It is easily divided into thin sheets, and constitutes a 
principal material in the “Indian fancy work” sold 
at Niagara, and other places of fashionable resort. 
The Canoe Birch is a beautiful ornamental tree, 
and will thrive in soils that are too wet for the Black 
Birch and Sugar Maple. It affords excellent tirewood, 
