of New York 



57 



BLACK BIRCH 



Betula lenta, Linnaeus 



THE BLACK BIRCH, also called Sweet Birch and Cherry 

 Birch, is one of the handsomest of our native birches. 

 The winter-green flavor of the twigs is an unfailing distin- 

 guishing characteristic. 



The leaves are simple, alternate, egg-shaped, 2 to 5 inches 

 long. On the last 

 season's growth 

 they occur singly; 

 on older twigs in 

 pairs but never op- 

 posite each other. 



The flowers ap- 

 pear before the 

 leaves and are of 

 two kinds. The 

 pollen-bearing are 

 arranged in droop- 

 ing tassels from 3 

 to 4 inches long. 



The fruit is an 

 erect cylindrical 

 spike \ x /i to 2 

 inches long. The 

 seeds are small 

 winged nutlet s 

 with 3 - lobed 

 scales. The bark 

 on young stems 

 and branches is 

 smooth, shiny, 

 close-fitting, black- 

 ish, and dotted 

 with pale elongat- 

 ed breathing pores. 

 On old trunks is size. 



thick, black, breaks into irregular rough plates. 



The wood is heavy, hard, strong, brownish with yellow 

 sapwood. It is used for furniture, interior finish, pulp, chem- 

 icals, and fuel. 



The Black Birch is found from Newfoundland to On- 

 tario, south to Indiana and North Carolina. It is common 

 in rich soils of moist woods across New York from Lake 

 Champlain and the Hudson valley to St. Lawrence county 

 and Lake Erie outside of the higher Adirondacks and Cats- 

 kills. It extends southward to Long Island. 



BLACK BIRCH 

 Leaves, fruit, and flower tassels one-fourth natural 



