1690

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

stamens. The stem of the plant,in its native habitat, seldom riseshigher than 5 ft. or 6 ft. It di-vides into smooth branches, an-gular, furnished with alternateoval leaves, smooth on bothsurfaces, and doubly serrated.

The teeth are sharp, and almostalternately long and short. Themale catkins are 2f in. long,slender, cylindric, with numerouspediceled flowers. The femalesare subcorymbose, elliptic, withslender peduncles. Watson,who has given a good figure ofthis species, says, from the habitand inflorescence of the female,this plant may be consideredan yf'lnus ; but the fruit, being asamara, “ claims it a i?etula.”

As the general appearance of the plant more resembles an alder than abirch, we have placed it under the former genus. It is a very handsomeshrub, and is well deserving of a place in collections. There are plants atMessrs. Loddiges’s, in the Horticultural Society’s Garden, and in some ofthe nurseries.

App. i. Other Species of A'lnus.

The genus ^'lnus, Mr. Royle informs us in his admirable Illustrations, “ has the same distributionin the Himalayas that it has in the northern hemisphere j that is, it occurs in moist situations, andalong the course .of rivers. A. obtusifolia Royle is very abundant on the banks of the Jumna andTonce. A. elonghta Royle occurs in Cashmere ; and A, nepalensis Wall. PI. As. Rar., 1.131.> on themountains surrounding the valley from which it was named.” ( Illust ., p. 341.) It appears probable,that, of the above species, at least A.nepatensis , a tree from SO ft. to 40 ft. high, may prove sufficientlyhardy to bear the climate of London ; and we hope it may soon be introduced.

Genus II.

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jBE / TULA Town . The Birch. Lin. Syst. Monos'cia Polyandria.

Identification. Tourn., t. 360.; Lin. Gen., 485.; Juss., 409.; FI. Br.. 1011.; Comp., ed. 4., 157.;

Lam., t. 760.; Gsertn., t. 90.; Lindl. Nat. Syst. Bot., p. _ .

Synonym.es. Bouleau, Fr.; Betula, ItaL; Abedul, Span.; Betulla , Port.; Birke, (?er.;

Dutch; Birk , Danish and Scotch; Biork, or Bork, Swedish ; Beresa, Russian ; Brzoza , Polish-Derivations. • From betu, its Celtic name; or, according to others, from the Latin wordbeat ; from the fasces of the Roman lictors, which were always made of birch rods, being useddrive back the people. Pliny derives the name from bitumen.

Description , fyc. The species are chiefly deciduous trees, some of which areof large size; but several of the species are shrubs. They are natives otEurope , chiefly in the most northern parts, or in high elevations in the south,of North America; and some of them of Asia . They are generally found inmountainous rocky situations in the middle of Europe ; but they grow vnlin plains and peaty soils in the northern regions. The common birch is oneof the hardiest of known trees; and there are only one or two other spec> esof ligneous plants which approach so near to the North Pole . The commonbirch has been known from the earliest ages; and it has long been the mosuseful tree to the inhabitants of the extreme north of Europe ; as_ the canobirch has been to those of the north of North America . The species all n P eseeds in the climate of London , and are all of the easiest culture in nnyordinary soil; but, being hair-rooted, they do not grow so well in very str Sclays; nor do plants of this genus, when raised from layers or cuttings, gso freely as in the case of some other genera. The leaves of the birch ha y