tions that the leaves of B. nàna vary exceedingly; in the marshes of Siberia, especially near Lake Baikal, and in Lapland and the arctic regions, they are small, and not an inch in length; but in Ingria, and the alpine rocky situations of Dahuria, they are large, and frequently broader than they are long.

6. B. GLANDULO'SA Michx. The glandular-branched Birch. Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 180.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 466.; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 622.; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 208.

Spec. Char., &c. Branches beset with glandular dots, glabrous. Leaves obovate, serrate, quite entire at the base, glabrous, almost sessile. Female catkins oblong; scales half 3-cleft. Seeds round, with narrow margins. (Willd. Sp. Pl., iv. p. 466.) A handsome little shrub, not above 2 ft. high; found in Canada, about Hudson's Bay, and on the borders of lakes on the high mountains of New Jersey and Pennsylvania; flowering in May. (Pursh.) It seems to correspond, in America, with the B. nana of Europe, and is probably only a variety of that species. It is not yet introduced. Leaves large. Natives of North America. The Poplar-leaved Birch

7. B. (A.) POPULIFO'LIA Ait.

Identification. Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 336.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 463.; Baum., p. 55.; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 204.; Du Roi Harb. Baum., 1. p. 144.; Marshal, p. 36.; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., vol. 2. p. 620.; Michx. N. Amer. Syl., vol. 2. p. 97.

Synonymes. B. acuminata Ehrh. Beit., 6. p. 98.; B. lénta Du Roi Harb. Baum., ed. 1., p. 92., Wang. Beit., p. 45.; white Birch and Oldfield Birch, Amer.

Engravings. Michx. Arb., 2. p. 139. t. 2.; Willd. Baum., t. 1. f. 5.; Michx. N. Amer. Syl., vol. 2. t. 71.; and our fig. 1560.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves deltoid, much acuminated, unequally serrated, quite smooth. Scales of the strobiles having roundish side lobes. Petioles glabrous. (Willd. Sp. Pl., iv. p. 463.) A tree, in every respect closely resembling B. álba, but growing with less vigour, and not attaining so large a size as that species. A native of North America.

Varieties.

B. (a.) p. 2 laciniata, B. laciniàta Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836, has large, smooth, shining, deeply cut leaves, and appears to us to belong to B. (a.) populifolia, rather than to B. álba.

B. (a) p. 3 péndula, B. péndula Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836, has the spray drooping, like that of the weeping variety of the common birch; but whether equally distinct or not, we have been unable to determine, from the very small size of the plants in the London collections. Description. The poplar-leaved birch, according to Pursh, is a tree from 30 ft. to 40 ft. high; but, according to Michaux, it only attains this height in favourable soils and situations. On trees that are fully grown, the branches are numerous, slender, and drooping. The leaves are smooth on both surfaces, heart-shaped at the base, very acuminate, and doubly and irregularly toothed. The petioles. are slightly twisted; and the leaves are thus rendered more tremulous than those of trees on which this disposition is not observed. The buds, a few days after their developement, are slightly coated with a yellowish_ odoriferous substance, like those of B. álba. The trunk of this species is clothed in a bark of as pure a white as that of B. papyràcea and B. álba; but its epidermis, when separated from the cellular integument, is capable of being divided, like that of B. nigra and B. excélsa, into thin sheets, which constitutes an essential difference. (Michx. N. Amer. Syl., ii. p. 98.) The tree is indigenous to barren rocky woods and old fields, from Canada to Pennsylvania.

It is

rare in Virginia, and does not exist in the other southern states. It is most frequently found in places scantily furnished with wood, where the

soil is dry and meagre. In such situations, it commonly attains the height of 20 ft. or 25 ft.; but single trees, in moist places, grow to nearly double that height, with trunks from 8 in. to 9 in. in diameter. It is less common in America than any other species of birch, being rarely found in groups; and single trees are met with only at considerable intervals. It is most common in the district of Maine; but, even there, it is only seen by the sides of the highways, and in sandy soils that have been exhausted by cultivation. The wood is very soft, brilliant when polished, and perfectly white; but it speedily decays, and, in America, is employed for no purpose, not even for fuel. The twigs are too brittle for common brooms. It was first cultivated in England by Archibald Duke of Argyll, at Whitton, in 1750; and it is to be met with in the principal British and Continental nurseries. When the plants are raised from seed, they make very handsome trees; and, as seed is freely produced, this mode ought always to be adopted: but plants from layers seldom attain any magnitude. The largest trees that we know of in the neighbourhood of London are at Purser's Cross and Syon; where, however, they are under 50 ft. in height. In the Fulham Nursery, there is one 30 ft. high; and the largest tree of this kind in England, seems to be at Doddington, in Gloucestershire, where it is 60 ft. high. In Ireland, in the Glasnevin Botanic Garden, 35 years planted, it is 30 ft. high. The price of plants, in the London nurseries, is from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each, and seeds 1s. per quart; at New York, plants are 10 cents each, and seeds 60 cents per pound, or 5 dollars per bushel.

Identification. Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 337.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 464., Baum., p. 58.; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 205.; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 621.

Synonymes. B. papyrifera Micha. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 180., Marshal, p. 36. ; B. lanceolata Hort.; B. rubra Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; B. canadensis Lodd. Cat. ; B. nigra of the Paris nurseries; Canoe Birch, white Birch, Amer.

Engravings. Michx. Arb., 2. t. 1.; Willd. Baum., t. 1. f. 1.; our fig. 1561.; and the plate of this tree in our last Volume.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves ovate, acuminate, doubly serrate; veins hairy beneath; petiole glabrous. Female catkins on long footstalks, drooping; scales having the side lobes short, somewhat orbiculate. (Willd. Sp. Pl., iv. p. 464.) A North American tree, attaining 60 ft. or 70 ft. in height; and flowering, in America, in May and June. Introduced in 1750.

Varieties.

B. p. 2 fusca, B. fúsca Bosc.-This variety is mentioned, in the Nouveau Du Hamel, as having been collected by Bosc in Carolina. The leaves are smaller than those of the species, and less downy. The branches, covered with a short soft down, of a brownish colour, somewhat resemble those of B. nigra Ait.

B. p. 3 trichoclada Hort.,has extremely hairy branches, and its twigs in threes. It has heartshaped leaves. There is a tree in the Horticultural Society's Garden.

B. p. 4 platyphýlla Hort. has very broad leaves.

Description, &c. The largest size which this tree attains in North America, according to Michaux, is about 70 ft. in height, with a trunk 3 ft. in diameter; but a writer in the Gardener's Magazine mentions trees which girt from 18 ft. to 20 ft. in the settlements of the Hudson's Bay Company. Its branches are slender, flexible, and covered with a shining brown bark, dotted with white. The leaves are borne on petioles four or five lines long, and are of a middling size, oval, unequally denticulated, smooth, with scarcely any hairs, and of a dark green. The catkins are pendulous, and about 1 in. in length: the seeds are ripe towards the middle of July. On trees the trunks of which do not exceed 8 in. in diameter the bark is of a brilliant white; and is as indestructible as the bark of B. álba. The heart wood of this tree, when first laid open, is of a reddish hue; and the sap wood is perfectly white. It has a fine glossy grain, with a considerable share of strength; but speedily decays when exposed to alternate dryness and moisture. Michaux considers it, however, equal in point of useful properties to the white birch of Europe. A section of the trunk of a fullgrown tree, 1 ft. or 2 ft. in length, immediately below the first ramification, exhibits very elegant undulations of the fibre, representing bunches of feathers, or sheaves of corn. These pieces are divided by cabinet-makers into thin

1561

plates, and are much used by them, in Boston and in other towns situated farther north, for inlaying. The tree affords excellent fuel. The bark, like that of the European species, is, in Canada and the district of Maine, employed for many purposes. It is placed in large pieces immediately under the shingles of the roof, to prevent the water from penetrating through it. Baskets, boxes, and portfolios are made of it, which are sometimes embroidered with silk of different colours. Divided into very thin sheets, it forms a substitute for paper; and, placed between the soles of the shoes, and in the crown of the hat (as the bark of the birch of Europe is in Lapland), it is a defence against humidity. But the most important purpose to which it is applied, and one in which it is replaced by the bark of no other tree, is the construction of canoes. To procure proper pieces, the largest and smoothest trunks are selected. In the spring, two circular incisions are made several feet apart, and two longitudinal ones on the opposite sides of the tree; after which, by introducing a wooden wedge, the bark is easily detached. The plates are usually 10 ft. or 12 ft. long, and 2 ft. 9 in. broad. To form the canoe, they are stitched together with the fibrous roots of the white spruce, about the size of a quill, which are deprived of their bark, split, and rendered supple by steeping in water. The seams are coated with resin of the Balm of Gilead fir. Great use is made of these canoes by the savages, and by the French Canadians, in their long journeys into the interior of the country: they are very light, and are easily transported on the shoulders from one lake to another. A canoe calculated for four persons, with their baggage, only weighs from 40 lb. to 50 lb.; and some of them are made to carry fifteen passengers. (Michx. N. Amer. Syl., ii. p. 88.) A small canoe will carry 20 cwt. In the settlements of the Hudson's Bay Company, tents are made of the bark of this tree, which for that purpose is cut into pieces 12 ft. long and 4 ft. wide. These are sewed together by threads made of the white spruce roots, already mentioned; and so rapidly is a tent put up, that a circular one of 20 ft. in diameter, and 10 ft. high, does not occupy more than half an hour in pitching. The utility of these "rind tents," as they are called, is acknowledged by every traveller and hunter in the Canadas. They are used throughout the whole year; but, during the hot months of June, July, and August, they are found particularly comfortable. It has been proposed to introduce this bark into England, and use it for protecting plants during the winter season, and for various other garden purposes. (See Gard. Mag., vol. xi. p. 407.) The tree was introduced into Europe, and cultivated by Archibald Duke of Argyle, in 1750. It flourishes, Michaux says, in the vicinity of Paris, and is known there in the nurseries under the name of B. nigra; we suppose, because the bark of very young trees is generally black, and the leaves of a very dark green. In the London nurseries, it is not very common; but there are plants of it in the arboretum at Messrs. Loddiges's; and, in 1834, in the Horticultural Society's Garden, there were several trees upwards of 30 ft. high, after being 10 years planted. B. papyracea requires rather a better soil than the common birch, and it is best propagated by seeds, which are annually received from New York. The plant usually known by the name of B. papyràcea, in the London nurseries, is the B. rùbra of Michaux, jun., the B. Ianulòsa of Michaux, sen., and our B. nigrà, No. 9. This mistake has arisen from the bark of B. nigra, even in trees not above 1 in. in diameter, separating from the trunk, and rolling up in very thin paper-like laminæ.

Statistics. In the environs of London, at Syon, it is 47 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 1 in.,

and of the head 32 ft. In Devonshire, at Endsleigh Cottage, 10 years planted, it is 27 ft. high; in Buckinghamshire, at Temple House, 40 years planted, it is 25 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 10 in., and of the head 16 ft.; in Staffordshire, at Trentham, 26 years planted, it is 34 ft. high. In Ireland, near Dublin, at Cypress Grove, it is 55 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 9 in., and of the head 40 ft. In France, at Paris, in the Jardin des Plantes, 30 years old, it is 32 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft., and of the head 30 ft. In Hanover, at Göttingen, in the Botanic Garden, 20 years planted, it is 30 ft. high.

Commercial Statistics. Price of plants, in the London nurseries, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each; and of seeds, 1s. per quart. At New York, plants are 25 cents each, and seeds 1 dollar per pound, or 8 dollars per bushel.

9. B. NIGRA L. The black Birch.

Identification. Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 464., Baum., p. 56.; Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 336.; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 621.; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 203.; Dend. Brit., t. 153. ; Lindley in Penny Cycl. Synonymes. B. lanulosa Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 181., N. Du Ham., 3. p. 206.; ? B. rùbra Michx. Arb., 2. p. 162.; B. angulata Lodd. Cat., ed. 1886; red Birch, Amer.

Engravings. Dend. Brit., t. 153.; Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. t. 3.; Willd. Baum., t. 1. f. 6.; N. Du Ham., 3. t. 51.; Bot. Cab., t. 1248.; our figs. 1562., and 1563.; and the plates of this tree in our last Volume.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves rhomboid-ovate, doubly serrated, acute; pubescent beneath, entire at the base. Scales of the strobiles villose; segments linear, equal. (Willd. Sp. Pl., iv. p. 464.) A tree, a native of North America, from New Jersey to Carolina; attaining the height of 70 ft.; and flowering in May. Introduced as B. nigra, in 1736, by Peter Collinson; and again, as B. angulata, in 1817, by Messrs. Loddiges. We have adopted the specific name of nigra, because it was preferred by Willdenow and Pursh. The figure in Michaux, of which our fig.1562. is a correct copy, differs so much from that given in Dend. Brit. (our fig.1563), which we know to be a faithful imitation of the plant which we intend to describe, as it is to be seen at Messrs. Loddiges's, and in various other nurseries, that we are inclined to think there must be some error in the application of the name to the figure in Michaux; though his description agrees perfectly with our plant - the difference between the cuts being in the position of the catkins.

Description, &c. A tree, when full grown, attaining the height of 70 ft., in Virginia and North Carolina. The trunk and the largest limbs are covered with a thick, deeply furrowed, greenish bark; but, on trees with trunks not exceeding 8 in. or 10 in. in diameter, the epidermis is reddish, or of a cinnamon colour; "whence, probably," says Michaux," the appropriate denomination of red birch. The epidermis of this species, like that of the canoe birch (B. papyracea), divides itself transversely into thin transparent sheets, which appear to be composed of a mixed substance, instead of presenting a pure homogeneous texture. Hence they have not a uniform transparency, nor a perfectly even surface: compared with the bark of the canoe birch, they are like coarse paper compared with fine. When this tree is fully expanded, its summit is ample; but the uncommon thickness of its branches prevents it from appearing tufted. twigs which form the extremity of the tree are long, flexible, and pendulous; and the limbs are of a brown complexion, spotted with white: their bark is slightly uneven; while on other branches it is smooth and glossy. The petioles of the red birch are short and downy; the leaves, on young trees, are about 3 in. long, and 2 in. broad, of a light green on the upper surface, and whitish beneath; though on old trees they are much smaller: they are doubly denticulated at the edge, very acuminate at the summit, and terminated at the base in an acute angle, more regular than is seen in the leaf of any other tree. The female catkins, in America, are 5 in. or 6 in. long, straight, and nearly cylindrical; about London, they are not half the size. The seeds are ripe in the beginning of June." (N. Amer. Syl., ii. p. 101.) "No species," Dr. Lindley observes, " can be better

The

1562

marked than this, which appears, however, rarely to have found a place in collections. Its leaves are nearly as large as those of the canoe birch (B. papyracea); and they are remarkably angular. The stipules are unusually large, and more resemble those of the platanus than the birch." (Penny Cycl.)

66

1563

The most northerly situation in which this tree is found in the United States is in New Jersey, about 10 miles from New York; but it is abundant in Maryland, Virginia, the upper part of the Carolinas, and in Georgia. It is not, like the other species, found growing in the midst of the forest, but only on the banks of rivers, accompanied by the Plátanus occidentalis, A'cer eriocárpum, and some species of willow. It grows, with the greatest luxuriance, on the sides of limpid streams which have a gravelly bed, and the banks of which are not marshy. The wood of the red birch is compact, and very nearly white; and the colour of the sap wood and the heart wood is very nearly the same. Like that of the juneberry (Amelanchier Botryàpium), it is longitudinally marked by red vessels, which intersect each other in different directions. The negroes make bowls and trays of it, when they cannot procure poplar. The hoops for rice casks are made of its young shoots, and of branches not exceeding 1 in. in diameter; and the spray makes better brooms than that of any other species of American birch. Among all the birches," says Michaux, "this is the only species, the growth of which is invigorated by intense heat." For this reason, he recommends it for cultivation in Italy, and, we may add, for the temperate regions of Australia. In the climate of London, it scarcely attains a timber-like size; but there is a tree of it at Syon, of which we have given a portrait in our last volume, which is 47 ft. high; one in the Fulham Nursery, which died in 1834, was 30 ft. high; and one at Croome, 40 years planted, is 45 ft. high. In all these places it is known as B. papyracea; which name it has obtained from the paper-like laminae of its epidermis, which separate and curl up for the whole length of the trunk; and this not only in old trees, but in plants of three or four years' growth. From this circumstance, it can never be mistaken for any other species of birch, either in winter or summer. The bark which comes nearest to it is that of B. däùrica, as represented in the engraving of the trunk of an old tree of that species in Pallas's Flora Rossica. There are plants at Messrs. Loddiges's, and in several of the London nurseries. They are generally raised from imported seeds; but seeds ripen in this country, when the tree has attained the age of six or eight years. Plants, in the London nurseries, are from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each; and seeds 1s. per quart. At New York, plants are 25 cents each, and seeds 1 dollar and 50 cents per pound, 50 cents per quart, or 8 dollars per bushel.

10. B. EXCE'LSA H. Kew. The tall Birch.

Identification. Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 337.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 464., Baum., p. 60.; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 261.; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 203.

Synonymes. B. lutea Michx. Arb., 2. p. 152. ; ? B. nigra Du Roi Herb. Baum., 1. p. 148.; yellow Birch, Amer.

;

Engravings. Michx. Arb., 2. t. 5.; Wats. Dend. Brit., t. 95. N. Du Ham., 3. t. 52.; Willd. Baum., t. 1. f. 2.; and our fig. 1564. from Michaux, and fig. 1565. from the Nouv. Du Ham. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves ovate, acute, serrated; petioles pubescent, shorter than the peduncles. Scales of the strobiles having the side lobes roundish. (Willd. Sp. Pl., iv. p. 464.) A tree, from 70 ft. to 80 ft. high, in North America; and flowering there in May and June. Introduced about 1767. Description, &c. The specific name of excélsa, Michaux observes, is injudiciously applied to this species, as it leads to an erroneous opinion that it surpasses every other in height. It is a beautiful tree, and its trunk is of