THE BIRCH. 



79 



able for the colouring of its bark, which is marked 

 with brown, yellow, and silvery touches, which 

 are very picturesque, contrasting well wdth the 

 dark green hue of the leaves. The younger 

 twigs have no such variety of colour, being of an 

 uniform purple brown. The leaves are sharp- 

 pointed, stalked, and unevenly serrated. In April 

 and May the flowers appear in the form of droop- 

 ing catkins, some of which produce stamens only 

 and drop off* early. The fertile ones bear very 



LEAF AND FLOWER OF THE BIRCH. 



small winged nuts, and fall to pieces when ripe, 

 scattering the numerous seeds. The barren cat- 

 kins are formed in summer, but do not expand 

 till the fertile catkins appear in the following 

 spring. A kind of resin exudes from the leaves 

 and young twigs, which is highly fragrant, espe- 

 cially after rain or heavy dew. This resin ap- 



