BIECH FAMILY. 



327 



4. B. len'ta, L. Leaves cordate- 

 oblong, acuminate, sharply serrate, 

 hairy on the veins beneath ; scales of 

 the pistillate aments roughish-pubes- 

 cent, — the lobes ovate-lanceolate, 

 rather acute, prominently veined. 

 Soft or Pliant Betula. Sweet 

 Birch. Cherry Birch. 



stem 30-60 feet high, and 1-2 feet m 

 diameter ; branches numerous, slender, pU- 

 able, smooth and dotted with small white 

 scars. Leaves 3-4 inches long, thinnish, 

 varying from ovate oblong to obovate, mostly- 

 some what cordate, and often a little unequal 

 at base — the upper surface sprinkled with 

 long hairs — the margin and nerves beneath 

 hairy ; petioles about half an inch long, pilose. 

 Staminate aments 2-3 inches long, larger than 

 in the preceding species. PvAUlcde aments 

 about an inch long, and two thirds of an inch 

 in diameter ; scales 3-cleft nearly half their 

 length — the lobes prominently keeled and 

 nerved, hirsutely ciliate. Xut compressed, 

 elliptic-obovate, acute at each end, with a 

 membranaceous margin which is broader towards the summit, and somewhat cihate, but 

 everywhere narrower than in the preceding. 



Mountain forests : throughout the United States. Fl. April. Fr. August. 



Obs. The wood of this species is colored reddish, — something like that 

 of the Wild Cherry (Cerasus seroiina, DC.) ; and it is used, like that, in 

 making cabinet-ware, bedsteads, &c. The bark and young twigs are 

 pleasantly aromatic, — and were formerly employed in domestic brewings, 

 diet-drinks, &c. The Yellow Birch ( B. excel' sa, AH.), which is cona- 

 mon northward, belongs in this group ; it is readily distinguished by its 

 yellowish silvery or pearly bark. 



2. AL'NUS, Tournef. Alder. 



[The Latin name for the Alder.] 



Staminate aments somewhat clustered, cylindric, drooping, with the 

 scales peltate, 5-bracteolate beneath, 1-3-flowered. Calyx 4-parted. 

 Stamens 4, inserted at the base of the calyx-lobes, and opposite them ; 

 anthers 2-celled. Pistillate aments with the scales imbricated, fleshy, 

 2-flowered. Calyx of 4 scale-like sepals, adhering to the base of the 

 bracts, all persistent and becoming woody in fruit. Ovaries 2 under 

 each scale, sessile, 2-celled ; ovules solitary, pendulous ; stigmas 2, fili- 

 form. Nuts angular, sometimes winged. 



1. A. serrula'ta, WjIM. Leaves obovate, sub-acuminate, doubly ser- 

 rulate, smooth and green on both sides ; stipules oval, obtuse. 



Fig. 227. The Sweet or Cherry Birch (Betula lenta). 



