The TOUHa HATUBiiyST: 



A Monthly Magazine of Natural History. 



Part 41. APRIL, 1883. Vol. 4. 



THE BIRCH 

 (Betula alba.) 

 By J. P. SoUTTER, Bishop Auckland. 



TP the Oak, by virtue of its massive 

 -L grandeur and rugged strength, is 

 universally accorded the position of 

 "King of the forest," by equally 

 unanimous acclaim, the graceful birch 

 is hailed as the 



" Most beautiful of forest trees, 

 The Lady of the woods." 



And the epithet is well- merited, 

 whether we consider the slender sym- 

 metry of its form, the elegance of its 

 outline, or the fairy-like feathery light- 

 ness of its tasselled twigs and foliage 

 — for the birch has the smallest leaf 

 of any of our broad-leaved trees, and 

 this imparts to it the charming delicacy 

 of texture, when the light comes shim- 

 mering through as it grows 



" Hung high in air the birch in tassell'd 

 pride, 



Clasping with tangled roots the rock's 

 grey side." 

 The birch gives its name to the 

 Natural Order Betulacea, which in- 

 cludes two genera and about fifty 

 species. The alder being the only 



other British representative of the 

 order. The birches are closely allied 

 to the willows, agreeing with them in 

 having the flowers borne in catkins, 

 although of a more sober hue, and 

 therefore not so conspicuous. They 

 differ in being moyicecioMS, that is, the 

 staminate and pistillate catkins are pro- 

 duced separately on the same tree, 

 being usually found in contiguous 

 clusters of two or three together. They 

 are first formed in autumn, and remain 

 dormant during the winter, like elon- 

 gated buds, tasselling the extremities 

 of the leafless branches. The flowers 

 mature, and the pollen is shed in April 

 and May, when the first green leaves 

 appear. The fruit ripens in summer, 

 when the catkin separates into small, 

 woody, trilobed scales, each bearing a 

 minute seed, which are thus easily scat- 

 itered by the wind. In Britain we have 

 two indigenous birches, but one of 

 Ithem, B. nana, being only a small 

 bhrub or bush, not exceeding three 

 ifeet in height, is more a botanical curi- 

 osity than of any practical importance. 

 In this country it is entirely confined 

 to Alpine bogs in the sub- arctic zone^ 



