40 
TREES AS GOOD CITIZENS 
of the Beech are thin, finely and straightly veined, sharp 
pointed and sharply toothed. The nuts grpw two in a 
bur and form a sharply three-sided pyramid of a shiny 
brown color. The European Beech has similar though 
often darker bark, and its leaves are proportionately 
broader, though smaller, with less pronounced teeth and 
with 5 to 9 pairs of side veins, instead of 9 to 14 pairs, 
as in the American Beech. 
The trunk of the Grey Birch, when young, has a shiny 
bark of reddish brown, and as the tree matures, the bark 
becomes a dull chalky white with triangular dark patches 
underneath the bases of the branches. The bark is close- 
fitting, does not peel rapidly, and has thick short hori¬ 
zontal lines. The branches are slender and the lowest 
droop, while those near the top are ascending or erect. 
The leaves are triangular, sharply long pointed, and have 
fine teeth. The White, or Canoe Birch, has buff-white 
bark which peels off in paper-like layers. It lacks the 
triangular patches seen on the Grey Birch. The leaves 
are egg-shaped instead of triangular and double-toothed. 
The Paper Birch resembles the Grey Birch in that it has 
the same chalky-white bark, but it is different in that the 
bark of the Paper Birch peels off readily in thin layers, and 
that the dark, triangular patches are missing. 
The Basswood, or American Linden, has brownish 
grey bark with long, vertical fissures. The leaves are 
broadly heart-shaped and one-sided at base. The leaves 
of the European Linden are more evenly heart-shaped 
and are smaller than those of the Basswood. The flowers 
of the Basswood have five creamy white petals opposite 
petal-like scales; in the flowers of the European tree these 
scales are lacking. 
