Fifty Common Trees of New York 31 



22. BLACK BIRCH 



Cherry Birch, Sweet Birch 



(Betula lent a Linnaeus) 

 Black lirch yields a variety of useful products. From Lake Cham- 

 plain and the Hudson River Valley to Lake Erie, except along the 

 higher mountains, in moist or dry, gravelly or rocky soils, its twigs are 

 well known to boys and girls for their wintergreen flavor. The wood is 



BLACK BIRCH 

 Leaf and twig, one-half natural size ; 

 staminate catkin, thi-ee-fourths natural 

 size 



heavy, strong, hard, close-grained, and dark brown in color with yel- 

 lowish sapwood, and is the delight of farmers for fuel and of cabinet 

 makers for furniture, especially as a substitute for cherry or mahogany. 

 Oil of wintergreen, used medicinally and for flavoring, is distilled from 

 the twigs, and birch beer is obtained by fermenting the sugary sap. 



Bark — on branches smooth, close, not peeling, dark reddish brown in 

 color with conspicuous, light colored, elongated breathing spores; on 

 older trunks breaking into long, thick irregular plates almost black in 

 color. 



Twigs — slender, light reddish brown in color, with numerous, short, 

 spur-like lateral twigs ; strong wintergreen flavor when chewed. 



Winter buds — terminal bud present on spur-like lateral branches only, 

 about % inch long, conical, sharp-pointed, reddish brown in color, buds 

 on season's growth usually bending away from twigs. 



Leaves — alternate, simple, egg-shaped, from 2 to 5 inches long, sharp- 

 pointed, with finely serrate margins, found usually in pairs, not opposite 

 on lateral spurs. 



Fruit — an erect, cylindrical, cone-like structure as in other birches, 

 from 1% to 2 inches long, without stalk ; the winged nutlets falling in 

 autumn and winter. 



