CHAP. CIV.

setula'cete. se'tula.

1691

little succulency, and being astringent and aromatic, they are very rarely sub-ject to the attacks of insects. The wood of all the species is much lessdurable than the bark.

Leaves small.¥ 1 . B. a'lba L.

Natives chiefly of Europe.The white, or common, Birch.

Identification. Lin. Sp. PL, 1393.; Willd., 4. p. 462. ; FL Br., 1012. ; Engl. FL, 4. p. 1S3.; Hook.Scot., 274.; Hook. br. FI., 3d ed., p. 411.

Synonymes. B. pubescens Ehrh. Arb., 67., PI. Off., 338.; B., No. 1628., Hall. Hist.; 2?etulaRati Syn., 445.; B. ®tnensis Raji., according to Comp, to Bot. Mag., 1. p. 91.; Bouleau commun,Fr.; gemeine Birke, Ger.

Engravings. Erig. Bot., t. 2198.; FI. Dan., t. 1467.; Trag. Hist., 1113. f.; Bauh. Hist., 1. pt. 2.p. 149. f.; Matth. Valgr., 1. p. 121. f. ; Cam. Epit., p. 69. f. ; Dod. Pempt., 839. f. ; Ger. Emac.,p. 1378. f. ; Lob. Ic., 2. p. 190. f. ; our jig. 1547.; and Jig. 1550., of the entire tree ; and the plateof this species in our last Volume.

Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves ovate, acute, somewhatdeltoid, unequally serrated, nearly glabrous.

(Eng. Fl.,iv. p. 153.) A tree, a native ofalmost every part of Europe, but more espe-daily of the colder regions. A diminutiveshrub in the extreme north, but a tree from50 ft. to 60 ft. high in the middle regions;flowering, in Lapland, in May; and in theApennines, in February and March.

Varieties.

pendula Smith, Lodd. Cat., ed.

1836 ; B. pendula Roth Germ., i. p.

405., 2., pt. 2. p. 476.; B. verrucbsaEhrh. Arb., 96., Lod4. Cat., ed. 1836,

PI. Off., 328.; B. pendulis virgulisLoes. Pruss.; the weeping Birch, is awell-known tree, differing from thespecies in having the shoots more slen-der, smoother, and pendulous. (See theplate of the young tree in our last Volume.) Some Continental andEnglish botanists, and, among the latter, Sir J. E. Smith, are inclinedto consider this a variation rather than a variety; but this opiniondoes not prevail among cultivators. Sang states that the weepingvariety is easily known from the common birch, by its attaining amuch larger size; by its main branches being more straight andupright (though its lateral ones are pendent at their extremities);and by its leaves being smaller. It attains, he says, the stature of atimber tree in much less time than the common sort; and is farhandsomer, both when young and when in a mature state. All theseparticulars must have been observed by every one who has had muchoccasion to penetrate into birch forests; and the circumstance ofnurserymen collecting the seeds of this variety, and finding that themajority of the plants produced by them are of the smooth-leavedand weeping kind, leaves no doubt in our mind that B. a. pendulais as much a variety as B. a. pubescens. Sir W. J. Hooker says (Brit.FL, 3d ed., p. 411.) : “There is a variety of this tree (B. pendulaRoth, Lindl. Syn., p. 229.), with remarkably droopingbranches, which are more verrucose than in thecommon appearance. It is not unfrequent in theHighlands of Scotland, and is generally known bythe name of the drooping birch. To this Scottalludes:

“ * Where weeps the birch with silver bark,

And long dishevelled hair.’ ”

i B. a. 3 pubescens ; B. pubescens Ehrh. Beitr., vi. 98.,

Willd., iv. 462., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; and our fig.

1548.; has the leaves covered with white hairs; and, though con-