CHAP. CIV.

betula'ceae. be'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. Natives chiefly of Europe .

¥ I. B. aT.ba L. The white, or common, Birch.

Identification. Lin, Sp. PL, 1393.; Willd., 4. p. 462.; FL Br., 1012.; Engl. FL, 4. p. 153.; Hook.Scot., 274.; Plook. Br. FL, 3ded., p. 411.

Synonymes. B. pubescens Ehrh. Arb., 67-, PI- OJfi, 338.; B., No. 1628., Hall. Hist .; j^etulaRaii Syn., 445.; B. atnfensis Raji., according to Comp, to Bot. Mag 1. p. 91.; Bouleau comrnun,Fr.; gemeine Birke , Ger.

Engravings. Eng. 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. ; Cara. Epit, p. 69. f. ; Dod. Pempt., 839. f. ; Ger. Emac.,l>, 1378. f.; I.ob. Ic., 2, p. 190. f. ; our fig. 1547.; andj'tg. 1550., of the entire tree ; and the plateof this species in our last Volume.

Spec. Char., $c. 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-cially 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.

¥ B. a. 2 pendula Smith, Lodd. Cat. , ed.

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

405., 2., pt. 2. p.476.; B. verrucosaEhrh. Arb., 96., Lodd. Cat. , ed. 1836,

PI . Off., 328.; B. pendulis vlrgulisLoes. 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.PL, 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.’ ”

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

Willd,, iy, 462., Lodd. Cat. , ed. 1836; and onr flg.

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

mm i