Handbook of the Trees of New England Part 13

Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to the Lake Superior region.

Maine,--frequent; New Hampshire,--in the highlands of the southern section, and along the Connecticut river valley to a short distance north of Windsor; Vermont,--frequent in the western part of the state, and in the southern Connecticut valley (_Flora of Vermont_, 1900); Ma.s.sachusetts and Rhode Island,--frequent throughout, especially in the highlands, less often near the coast; Connecticut,--widely distributed, especially in the Connecticut river valley, but not common.

South to Delaware, along the mountains to Florida; west to Minnesota and Kansas.

=Habit.=--A medium-sized or rather large tree, 50-75 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 1-4 feet, often conspicuous along precipitous ledges, springing out of crevices in the rocks and a.s.suming a variety of picturesque forms. In open ground the dark trunk develops a symmetrical, wide-spreading, hemispherical head broadest at its base, the lower limbs horizontal or drooping sometimes nearly to the ground. The limbs are long and slender, often more or less tortuous, and separated ultimately into a delicate, polished spray. Distinguished by its long purplish-yellow, pendulous catkins in spring, and in summer by its glossy, bright green, and abundant foliage, which becomes yellow in autumn.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk on old trees very dark, separating and cleaving off in large, thickish plates; on young trees and on branches a dark reddish-brown, not separating into thin layers, smooth, with numerous horizontal lines 1-3 inches long; branchlets reddish-brown, shining, with shorter lateral lines; season's shoots with small, pale dots. Inner bark very aromatic, having a strong checkerberry flavor,--hence the common name, "checkerberry birch"; called also "cherry birch," from the resemblance of its bark to that of the garden cherry.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds reddish-brown, oblong or conical, pointed, inner scales whitish, elongating as the bud opens. Leaves simple, in alternate pairs, 3-4 inches long and one-half as wide, shining green above and downy when young, paler beneath and silvery-downy along the prominent, straight veins; outline ovate-oval, ovate-oblong, or oval; sharply serrate to doubly serrate; apex acute to ac.u.minate; base heart-shaped to obtuse; leafstalk short, often curved, hairy when young; stipules soon falling.

=Inflorescence.=--April to May. Sterile catkins 3-4 inches long, slender, purplish-yellow; scales fringed: fertile catkins erect or suberect, sessile or nearly so, 1/2-1 inch long, oblong-cylindrical; bracts p.u.b.escent; lateral lobes wider than in _B. lutea._

=Fruit.=--Fruiting catkins oblong-cylindrical, nearly erect; bracts with 3 short, nearly equal diverging lobes: nut obovate-oblong, wider than its wings; upper part of seed-body usually appressed-p.u.b.escent.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows everywhere from swamps to hilltops, but prefers moist rocky slopes and a loamy or gravelly soil; occasionally offered by nurserymen; both nursery and collected plants are moved without serious difficulty; apt to grow rather unevenly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE x.x.x.--Betula lenta.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Sterile flower, back view.

4. Sterile flower, front view.

5. Fertile flower.

6. Fruiting branch.

7. Fruit.

8. Mature leaf.

=Betula lutea, Michx. f.=

YELLOW BIRCH. GRAY BIRCH.

=Habitat and Range.=--Low, rich woodlands, mountain slopes.

Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to Rainy river.

New England,--abundant northward; common throughout, from borders of lowland swamps to 1000 feet above the sea level; more common at considerable alt.i.tudes, where it often occurs in extensive patches or belts.

South to the middle states, and along the mountains to Tennessee and North Carolina; west to Minnesota.

=Habit.=--A large tree, at its maximum in northern New England 60-90 feet high and 2-4 feet in diameter at the base. In the forest the main trunk separates at a considerable height into a few large branches which rise at a sharp angle, curving slightly, forming a rather small, irregular head, widest near the top; while in open ground the head is broad-spreading, hemispherical, with numerous rather equal, long and slender branches, and a fine spray with drooping tendencies. In the sunlight the silvery-yellow feathering and the metallic sheen of trunk and branches make the yellow birch one of the most attractive trees of the New England forest.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunks and large limbs in old trees gray or blackish, l.u.s.treless, deep-seamed, split into thick plates, standing out at all sorts of angles; in trees 6-8 inches in diameter, scarf-bark l.u.s.trous, parted in ribbon-like strips, detached at one end and running up the trunk in delicate, tattered fringes; season's shoots light yellowish-green, minutely buff-dotted, woolly-p.u.b.escent, becoming in successive seasons darker and more l.u.s.trous, the dots elongating into horizontal lines. Aromatic but less so than the bark of the black birch; not readily detachable like the bark of the canoe birch.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds conical, 1/4 inch long, mostly appressed, tips of scales brownish. Leaves simple, in alternate pairs or scattered singly along the stem; 3-5 inches long, 1/2-2 inches wide, dull green on both sides, paler beneath and more or less p.u.b.escent on the straight veins; outline oval to oblong, for the most part doubly serrate; apex ac.u.minate or acute; base heart-shaped, obtuse or truncate; leafstalk short, grooved, often p.u.b.escent or woolly; stipules soon falling.

=Inflorescence.=--April to May. Sterile catkins 3-4 inches long, purplish-yellow; scales fringed: fertile catkins sessile or nearly so, about 1 inch long, cylindrical; bracts 3-lobed, nearly to the middle, p.u.b.escent, lobes slightly spreading.

=Fruit.=--Fruiting catkins oblong or oblong-ovoid, about 1 inch long and two-thirds as thick, erect: nut oval to narrowly obovate, tapering at each end, p.u.b.escent on the upper part, about the width of its wing.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in wet or dry situations, but prefers wet, peaty soil, where its roots can find a constant supply of moisture; similar to the black birch, equally valuable in landscape-gardening, but less desirable as a street tree; transplanted without serious difficulty.

Differences between black birch and yellow birch:

=Black Birch.=--Bark reddish-brown, not separable into thin layers; leaves bright green above, finely serrate; fruiting catkins cylindrical; bark of twigs decidedly aromatic.

=Yellow Birch.=--Bark yellow, separable into thin layers; leaves dull green above; serration coa.r.s.er and more decidedly doubly serrate; fruiting catkins ovoid or oblong-ovoid; flavor of bark less distinctly aromatic.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE x.x.xI.--Betula lutea.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flower-buds.

3. Flowering branch.

4-6. Sterile flowers.

7. Fertile flower.

8. Bract.

9. Fruiting branch.

10. Fruit.

=Betula nigra, L.=

RED BIRCH. RIVER BIRCH.

=Habitat and Range.=--Along rivers, ponds, and woodlands inundated a part of the year.

Doubtfully and indefinitely reported from Canada.

No stations in Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, or Connecticut; New Hampshire,--found sparingly along streams in the southern part of the state; abundant along the banks of Beaver brook, Pelham (F. W.

Batchelder); Ma.s.sachusetts,--along the Merrimac river and its tributaries, bordering swamps in Methuen and ponds in North Andover.

South, east of the Alleghany mountains, to Florida; west, locally through the northern tier of states to Minnesota and along the Gulf states to Texas; western limits, Nebraska, Kansas, Indian territory, and Missouri.

=Habit.=--A medium-sized tree, 30-50 feet high, with a diameter at the ground of 1-1-1/2 feet; reaching much greater dimensions southward. The trunk, frequently beset with small, leafy, reflexed branchlets, and often only less frayed and tattered than that of the yellow birch, develops a light and feathery head of variable outline, with numerous slender branches, the upper long and drooping, the reddish spray clothed with abundant dark-green foliage.

=Bark.=--Reddish, more or less separable into layers, fraying into shreddy, cinnamon-colored fringes; in old trees thick, dark reddish-brown, and deeply furrowed; branches dark red or cinnamon, giving rise to the name of "red birch"; season's shoots downy, pale-dotted.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, mostly appressed near the ends of the shoots, tapering at both ends. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-4 inches long, two-thirds as wide, dark green and smooth above, paler and soft-downy beneath, turning bright yellow in autumn; outline rhombic-ovate, with unequal and sharp double serratures; leafstalk short and downy; stipules soon falling.

=Inflorescence.=--April to May. Sterile catkins usually in threes, 2-4 inches long, scales 2-3-flowered: fertile catkins bright green, cylindrical, stalked; bracts 3-lobed, the central lobe much the longest, tomentose, ciliate.

=Fruit.=--June. Earliest of the birches to ripen its seed; fruiting catkins 1-2 inches long, cylindrical, erect or spreading; bracts with the 3 lobes nearly equal in width, spreading, the central lobe the longest: nut ovate to obovate, ciliate.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in all soils, but prefers a station near running water; young trees grow vigorously and become attractive objects in landscape plantations; especially useful along river banks to bind the soil; retains its lower branches better than the black or yellow birches. Seldom found in nurseries, and rather hard to transplant; collected plants do fairly well.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE x.x.xII.--Betula nigra.]

1. Leaf-buds.