1408 Ghap.i4~ 
T keatrum c Bctanicum. 
R IE F. 
1 6 
the barke is of the fame effeft, and is alfo of very good ufe againfl the fretting humours chat caufe the bloody 
fluxcor griping paines in the belly : the laid inner barke being fteeped in water for awhile, caufcth the water 
to become thicke or mvjcilagye, which being applyed with clothes wet therein, will helpe anv place that is bur¬ 
ned withfire: the wood or coales of the Line tree, while they are burning ho: quenched in vinegar, and after¬ 
wards ground with a certainc thing or drugge,called Ocnlicancri and drunkc, is found by good experience to be 
wonderfully good for thole that by feme fall or bruife, or by blowes doe (pit blood : Tragu/'iaith that he thinketh 
the flowers hereof, whereon Bees doe much defire to ftedc are good for them. 
Chap. X I V. 
Betulu The Birch tree. 
He Birch tree g' o veth to be a goodly tall flraigbc tree with us, fraught with many bcughes and other 
(lender brant hes,bending dow ne wards, the older ones being covered with a dilcoloured rcugh chap¬ 
ped batke, and the younger being browner by much, under v* hich there is another fine white thinne 
rindeor barke, much uftd to write upon,before paper was uffd, the leaves at their firft breaking out 
crumpled, and after are fomewhat like unto B^ech leaves, but (mailer and greener, and dented 
alfo about the edges: it bearerh Irnall and fhort cat kins,fome- 
what like to thole of the Hafell nuc tree, which abide on the 
branches a long time, untill growing ripe, they fall on the 
ground and their feede with them. 
The PlaceandTtme. 
This ufually groweth in woods, as well on the higher as 
lower and moift grounds, every where generally through¬ 
out the land,the catkins come forth in ^ prill } and the leaves 
looneafter,tbe leede is ripe in September, 
The Names. 
Tt is called in Gt eeke^-^by TheophraflM^ib.^.c.l^yet 
he giveth it to be folio Carya, and fome read v^va. 
but others doe thinke that it fhould be folio Oxjz y whereunto 
it fitly agreeth,in Latine Betula y znd with fome BetnUafortatfe 
qzia bituminejeatent \ all Authours call it Betula. The Itali¬ 
ans call it'Bettola, the French Bonlcau and Bes y the Germanes 
Birchenbaum, the Tlntch Berckenboom, and wee in Englifi 
Birch tree. 
The Vertues , 
The Birch is in our dayes applyed to little phyficallufes, yet 
the juyee of the leaves while they are young, or the deftilled 
water of them, or the water that commeth cut of the tree of 
itowne accord, being boicd with an auger, or dellilled after- 
wards,any of thefe being drunk for fome time tog' ther.is held 
available to breake the ftonc in the kidnies or bladder, and is 
alfo good to wafh fore mouths,a lye made of the afbes of Birch 
tree barkers cftedluall for the fame purpotes. Many other ci- 
vill ufes the Birch is putunto, as full to decke up houies and 
arbours, both forthcficlhgreenncfleand goed lent it cafleth, 
itfervethtomakehoopestobindecas-kes withill; theycung 
branches being fiefh arc writhed, and ferve for bands unto 
faggots: oftheycungtwiggesarc tnadebroomes to fweepc 
ourhoufes, asalforods to cor re dl ehildrcn atfchcole, or at 
home,and was an enfigneborne in buncclsby the Lidors or 
Sergeants before the Confulls in the old Romans times, with 
which, and with axes borne in the like manner, they declared 
the pumfhment for leffcr, and grearer offences, to their peo¬ 
ple. 
Bitua. Ti e Birch tree, 
Chai. XV. 
'Almu, The Alder tree. 
iV this Alder, I have to fhew you two or three varieties more then others have exprefled, which are 
' thefe Following: 
1. Ahnu The uCuall Alder tree, 
the ordinary Aldertree groweth to a reafonablc heigh:, and (preadeth much if itlike the place, 
coveted with a trownifh barke,and the wood under it moreted then Elmc or Yew : theboughes and branches 
whereof are more brittle then any other wood that groweth in or reetc water : the leaves ate round almoft,full 
of ribs,rugged,thicke and clammy, by realon of a flicking dew that contirually lycth upon them, yec fhining 
and dented about the edges,fomewhat like unto the leaves of the Hafell tree, tucofadarkcr grecne colour 1 it 
bfarcth Qiort brownc aglets like the Beech or Birch, which fall not away before the leede is ripe within them, 
and 
