Betula 975 



acute or acuminate at the apex ; margin ciliate, coarsely and irregularly serrate ; 

 nerves, six to eight pairs ; upper surface at first pubescent on the midrib and nerves, 

 ultimately glabrescent ; lower surface glandular, with scattered pubescence on the 

 midrib and nerves ; petiole, J inch, slightly pilose. 



Fruiting catkins, f to i inch long, ovoid-cylindrical, acute at the apex ; scales 

 glabrous with scattered glands on the margin and outer surface, middle lobe 

 triangular, lateral lobes broad, rounded and spreading ; nutlet obovate, with narrow 

 wings, broadest in their upper part. 



This species, which is readily distinguished by its peculiar bark, is widely 

 spread throughout Amurland, Manchuria, Korea, and north China. According to 

 Komarov,^ it grows throughout the whole of Manchuria, in the drier parts of the 

 valleys and in open places on the mountains, on rocky or sandy soil, occasionally 

 forming small woods, but is never seen in the dense virgin forests. 



It is extremely rare in cultivation, the only specimen which we have seen being 

 a small tree in Kew Gardens, about 1 5 feet high, which was raised from seed sent 

 by Bretschneider from Peking in 1882. (A. H.) 



BETULA CORYLIFOLIA 



Betula corylifolia, Regel and Maximo wicz, in Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. xxxviii. 417, t. 8 (1865); Regel, 

 in DC. Prod. xvi. 2, p. 178 (1868); Winkler, Betulacea, 59, fig. 17 (1904). 



A tree, the dimensions of which are not stated. Young branchlets slightly 

 pubescent. Leaves (Plate 270, Fig. 14), 2^ to 3 inches long, about 2 inches 

 wide, oval ; rounded or truncate (rarely cuneate) at the base, acute at the apex ; 

 coarsely serrate ; nerves, twelve to fourteen pairs, impressed above and very 

 prominent beneath ; upper surface pilose on the midrib, elsewhere glabrous ; lower 

 surface pale in colour, with conspicuous long silky hairs on the midrib and nerves, 

 elsewhere glabrescent ; petiole, f inch, at first pilose, later glabrescent. Fruiting 

 catkins (Plate 270, Fig. 14), i^ to 2 inches long, f inch wide, cylindrical, often 

 curved ; scales large, slightly pubescent, ciliate in margin, deeply three-lobed, 

 lobes linear-oblong, the middle one about twice as long as the lateral lobes ; seeds 

 with very narrow wings. 



This remarkable species,^ peculiar in the shape of the leaf and in the stout, long 

 fruiting catkins, was found on the high mountains of the provinces of Senano and 

 Nambu in the main island of Japan, by Tschonoski. Very little is known about it 

 in the wild state, and it has never apparently been introduced into cultivation in 

 Europe. (A. H.) 



' Flora Manshurice, ii. 49 (1903). 

 2 The Japanese name of this species, according to Matsumura and Goto, is Urajiro-kamba. 



