/^VER a large part of Northern New 
England the Yellow Hirch is one of the 
most abundant trees of the hard wood 
forests. It is easily recognized wherever it 
grows by its rather ragged yellowish or 
yellow-gray hark. The precise tint varies 
greatly in different trees hut it always differs 
from the bark of any of the other birches. 
On account of its abundance as a forest tree 
it is very largely used for fuel, lumber and 
1 he leaves of the Yellow Birch are quite 
similar to those of the Black Birch, the bases 
being cordate and the margins finely serrate; 
hut the bark of the twigs has only to a slight 
degree the characteristic aromatic flavor of 
that of the Black Birch. In spring the long, 
pollen-bearing catkins which are pushed out 
from the ends of the branches are very 
similar in the two species, though the fruits 
which mature in autumn are more ovoid in 
the Yellow Birch and more cylindrical in the 
Black Birch. 
The Yellow Birch is essentially a northern 
tree, reaching its largest size in Canada and 
the northeastern states where it often attains 
a height of a hundred feet and a trunk 
diameter of four feet. In a forest the out¬ 
line of the tree is generally modified by the 
presence of the surrounding trees but in open 
spots the branches spread widely and are 
often somewhat pendulous so that the tree is 
likely to take on a broadly rounded outline. 
The species occurs naturally from New¬ 
foundland to Delaware, following the Al¬ 
legheny mountains southward to Tennessee. 
It extends west to Minnesota. In the more 
southern parts of its range it seldom attains 
a large size. 
As an ornamental tree the variable yellow¬ 
ish hark is one of the most attractive features 
of the Yellow Birch. It was apparently 
this beauty of the tree that led Thoreau to 
visit so often what he called the “Yellow 
Birch Swamp.” Young trees may be trans¬ 
planted successfully and flourish -best in a 
damp situation where the roots can always 
reach sufficient moisture. The tree is hardy 
and little subject to attack by insect or fungus 
enemies. 
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