BETULACEAE 
Sweet Birch. Black Birch. Cherry Birch 
Betula lenta 1.* 
HABIT.—A medium-sized tree 70-80 feet high, with a trunk 
diameter of 1-3 feet; slender, wide-spreading, pendulous branches, 
forming a narrow, rounded, open crown. , 
LEAVES.—Alternate in pairs, simple, 3-4 inches long and 
one-half as broad; outline variable, ovate to oblong-ovate; sharp- 
ly doubly serrate, with slender, incurved teeth; dull, dark green 
above, light yellow-green beneath; petioles short, stout, hairy, 
deeply grooved above; aromatic. ‘ 
FLOWERS.—April, before the leaves; monoecious; the 
staminate catkins 3-4 inches long, slender, pendent, yellowish; the 
pistillate catkins 14-34 inch long, erect or suberect, greenish. 
FRUIT.—Ripens in autumn; sessile, glabrous, erect strobiles, 
1-14 inches long and half as thick; scales glabrous; nuts slightly 
broader than their wings. 
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud absent; lateral buds about 
¥4 inch long, conical, sharp-pointed, red-brown, divergent. , 
BARK.—Twigs light green, becoming lustrous, red-brown in 
their first winter; very dark on old trunks, cleaving off in thick, 
irregular plates. Resembles bark of Black Cherry. Inner bark 
aromatic, spicy. 
WOOD.—Heavy, very hard and strong, close-grained, dark 
red-brown, with thin, lighter colored sapwood. 
DISTRIBUTION.—Scattered throughout the state; rare in 
the south, more abundant and of larger size in the north. 
HABITAT.—Grows in any situation, but prefers moist, 
rocky slopes and rich uplands. 
NOTES.—Hardy throughout its range. Easily transplanted. 
* A discussion has recently arisen as to whether Betula lenta 
actually exists in the state, some botanists preferring the name 
B. alleghanensis Britt. for the tree we have so long called 
Black Birch. Pending further investigation the authors have 
thought best to retain the old name. 
Ref.-Britton: North American Trees, pp. 257-8. 
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