Handbook of the Trees of New England Part 14

2. Flower-buds.

3. Branch with sterile and fertile catkins.

4. Sterile flower.

5. Fertile flower.

6. Scale of fertile flower.

7. Fruit.

8. Fruiting branch.

=Betula populifolia, Marsh.=

WHITE BIRCH. GRAY BIRCH. OLDFIELD BIRCH. POPLAR BIRCH. POVERTY BIRCH. SMALL WHITE BIRCH.

=Habitat and Range.=--Dry, gravelly soils, occasional in swamps and frequent along their borders, often springing up on burnt lands.

Nova Scotia to Lake Ontario.

Maine,--abundant; New Hampshire,--abundant eastward, as far north as Conway, and along the Connecticut to Westmoreland; Vermont,--common in the western and frequent in the southern sections; Ma.s.sachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut,--common.

South, mostly in the coast region, to Delaware; west to Lake Ontario.

=Habit.=--A small tree, 20-35 feet high, with a diameter at the ground of 4-8 inches, occasionally much exceeding these dimensions; under favorable conditions, of extreme elegance. The slender, seldom erect trunk, continuous to the top of the tree, throws out numerous short, unequal branches, which form by repeated subdivisions a profuse, slender spray, disposed irregularly in tufts or ma.s.ses, branches and branchlets often hanging vertically or drooping at the ends. Conspicuous in winter by the airy lightness of the narrow open head and by the contrast of the white trunk with the dark spray; in summer, when the sun shines and the air stirs, by the delicacy, tremulous movement, and brilliancy of the foliage.

=Bark.=--Trunk grayish-white, with triangular, dusty patches below the insertion of the branches; not easily separable into layers; branches dark brown or blackish; season's shoots brown, with numerous small round dots becoming horizontal lines and increasing in length with the age of the tree. The white of the bark does not readily come off upon clothing.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds somewhat diverging from the twig; narrow conical or cylindrical, reddish-brown. Leaves simple, alternate, single or in pairs, 3-4 inches long, two-thirds as wide, bright green above, paler beneath, smooth and shining on both sides, turning to a pale shining yellow in autumn, resinous, glandular-dotted when young; outline triangular, coa.r.s.ely and irregularly doubly serrate; apex taper-pointed; base truncate, heart-shaped, or acute; leafstalks long and slender; stipules dropping early.

=Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile catkins usually solitary or in pairs, slender-cylindrical, 2-3 inches long: fertile catkins erect, green, stalked; bracts minutely p.u.b.escent.

=Fruit.=--Fruiting catkins erect or spreading, cylindrical, about 1-1/4 inches long and 1/2 inch in diameter, stalked; scales 3-parted above the center, side lobes larger, at right angles or reflexed: nuts small, ovate to obovate, narrower than the wings, combined wings from broadly obcordate to b.u.t.terfly-shape, wider than long.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England, growing in every kind of soil, finest specimens in deep, rich loam. Were this tree not so common, its graceful habit and attractive bark would be more appreciated for landscape gardening; only occasionally grown by nurserymen, best secured through collectors; young collected plants, if properly selected, will nearly all live.

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

1. Branch with sterile and fertile catkins.

2. Sterile flower, back view.

3. Fertile flower.

4. Scale of fertile flower.

5. Fruiting branch.

6. Fruit.

=Betula papyrifera, Marsh.=

CANOE BIRCH. WHITE BIRCH. PAPER BIRCH.

=Habitat and Range.=--Deep, rich woods, river banks, mountain slopes.

Canada, Atlantic to Pacific, northward to Labrador and Alaska, to the limit of deciduous trees.

Maine,--abundant; New Hampshire,--in all sections, most common on highlands up to the alpine area of the White mountains, above the range of the yellow birch; Vermont,--common; Ma.s.sachusetts,--common in the western and central sections, rare towards the coast; Rhode Island,--not reported; Connecticut,--occasional in the southern sections, frequent northward.

South to Pennsylvania and Illinois; west to the Rocky mountains and Washington on the Pacific coast.

Var. _minor_, Tuckerman, is a dwarf form found upon the higher mountain summits of northern New England.

=Habit.=--A large tree, 50-75 feet high, with a diameter of 1-3 feet; occasionally of greater dimensions. The trunk develops a broad-spreading, open head, composed of a few large limbs ascending at an acute angle, with nearly horizontal secondary branches and a slender, flexible spray without any marked tendency to droop.

Characterized by the dark metallic l.u.s.tre of the branchlets, the dark green foliage, deep yellow in autumn, and the chalky whiteness of the trunk and large branches; a singularly picturesque tree, whether standing alone or grouped in forests.

=Bark.=--Easily detachable in broad sheets and separable into thin, delicately colored, paper-like layers, impenetrable by water, outlasting the wood it covers. Bark of trunk and large branches chalky-white when fully exposed to the sun, l.u.s.treless, smooth or ragged-frayed, in very old forest trees encrusted with huge lichens, and splitting into broad plates; young trunks and smaller branches smooth, reddish or grayish brown, with numerous roundish buff dots which enlarge from year to year into more and more conspicuous horizontal lines. The white of the bark readily rubs off upon clothing.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, ovate, flattish, acute to rounded. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-5 inches long, two-thirds as wide, dark green and smooth above, beneath pale, hairy along the veins, sometimes in young trees thickly glandular-dotted on both sides; outline ovate, ovate-oblong, or ovate-orbicular, more or less doubly serrate; apex acute to ac.u.minate; base somewhat heart-shaped, truncate or obtuse; leafstalk 1-2 inches long, grooved above, downy; stipules falling early.

=Inflorescence.=--April to May. Sterile catkins mostly in threes, 3-4 inches long: fertile catkins 1-1-1/2 inches long, cylindrical, slender-peduncled, erect or spreading; bracts p.u.b.erulent.

=Fruit.=--Fruiting catkins 1-2 inches long, cylindrical, short-stalked, spreading or drooping: nut obovate to oval, narrower than its wings; combined wings b.u.t.terfly-shaped, nearly twice as wide as long.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers a well-drained loam or gravelly soil, but does fairly well in almost any situation; young trees rapid growing and vigorous, but with the same tendency to grow irregularly that is shown by the black and yellow birches; transplanted without serious difficulty; not offered by many nurserymen, but may be obtained from northern collectors.

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

1. Leaf-buds.

2. Flower-buds.

3. Flowering branch.

4. Sterile flower, front view.

5. Fertile flower, front view.

6. Scale of fertile flower.

7. Fruiting branch.

8. Fruit.

=Alnus glutinosa, Medic.=

EUROPEAN ALDER.

This is the common alder of Great Britain and central Europe southward, growing chiefly along water courses, in boggy grounds and upon moist mountain slopes; introduced into the United States and occasionally escaping from cultivation; sometimes thoroughly established locally. In Medford, Ma.s.s., there are many of these plants growing about two small ponds and upon the neighboring lowlands, most of them small, but among them are several trees 30-40 feet in height and 8-12 inches in diameter at the ground, distinguishable at a glance from the shrubby native alders by their greater size, more erect habit, and darker trunks.

f.a.gACEae. BEECH FAMILY.

=f.a.gus ferruginea, Ait.=

_f.a.gus Americana, Sweet. f.a.gus atropunicea, Sudw._

BEECH.