TREKS AXD FORESTRY 



The broken twigs have a peculiarly pungent, bitter flavor 

 and odor. The bark of the trunk is reddish brown and 

 smooth when the tree is 



young, but scales off in thin 

 fragments as the tree be- 

 comes older. The bark 

 resembles that of the black 

 birch but can be distin- 

 guished from it by the 

 presence of conspicuous 

 lenticels (breathing struct- 

 ures) . 



4. American Gray 

 Birch (Betula populifolia 

 Marsh). The twigs of the 

 gray birch are slender and 

 flexible. They are very 

 tough. The new twigs are 

 rough to the touch. The 

 buds extend at an angle 

 somewhat less than 45° and 

 the twigs are bent where 

 the buds are attached (Fig. 

 58). The gray 1 irch is 

 characterized by its sprout 

 growth, that is, it seems 

 to have several trunks 

 which start out close to- 

 gether at the ground or 

 near it (Fig. 59). This 

 birch grows in very poor soil, and we associate it 

 with scrub oaks, sumachs, barberries, red cedars 

 and other low trees .and shrubs bordering 

 forests and occupying waste land. The white 

 bark of the tree is chalky to the touch; it does 

 not peel from the trunk but remains smooth as 

 the tree grows old. There are conspicuous 

 triangles of dark color on the trunk below the 

 points of insertion of the branches. 



Canoe, Paper or White Birch (Behda 

 papyrifera Marsh) can be distinguished 



FIG. 67. CHESTNUT 

 TWIG 



Twigs of r cent 

 growth have ridges 

 extending down- 

 ward from the leaf 

 scars 



GRAY BIRCH 



Gray^Birch twigs are rough 

 to the touch and are bent at 

 the points where the buds 

 grow. Rigid, staminate cat- 

 kins show their winter condi- 

 tion 



