damp fields, river valleys, along roadsides, occasional upon uplands and
hill slopes.
From Montreal west to Georgian bay.
Maine,--southward, rare; New Hampshire,--eastern limit in the
Connecticut valley, where it ranges farther north than any other of our
hickories, reaching Well's river (Jessup); Vermont,--occasional west of
the Green mountains and in the southern Connecticut valley;
Massachusetts,--rather common, abundant in the vicinity of Boston; Rhode
Island and Connecticut,--common.
South to Florida, ascending 3500 feet in Virginia; west to
Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Indian territory, and Texas.
=Habit.=--A tall, slender tree, 50-75 feet high and 1 foot-2-1/2 feet in
diameter at the ground, reaching greater dimensions southward. The
trunk, tapering gradually to the point of branching, develops a
capacious, spreading head, usually widest near the top, with lively
green, finely cut foliage of great beauty, turning to a rich orange in
autumn. Easily recognized in winter by its flat, yellowish buds.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk gray, close, smooth, rarely flaking off in thin
plates; branches and branchlets smooth; leaf-scars prominent; season's
shoots yellow, smooth, yellow-dotted.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Terminal buds long, yellow, flattish, often
scythe-shaped, pointed, with a granulated surface; lateral buds much
smaller, often ovate or rounded, pointed. Leaves pinnately compound,
alternate, 12-15 inches long; rachis somewhat enlarged at base; stipules
none; leaflets 5-11, opposite, 5-6 inches long, 1-2 inches wide, bright
green and smooth above, paler and smooth or somewhat downy beneath,
turning to orange yellow in autumn; outline lanceolate, or narrowly oval
to oblong-obovate, serrate; apex taper-pointed to scarcely acute; base
obtuse or rounded except that of the terminal leaflet, which is acute;
sessile and inequilateral, except in terminal leaflet, which has a short
stem and is equal-sided; sometimes scarcely distinguishable from the
leaves of _C. porcina_; often decreasing regularly in size from the
upper to the lower pair.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile and fertile flowers on the same tree,
appearing when the leaves are fully grown,--sterile at the base of the
season's shoots, or sometimes from the lateral buds of the preceding
season, in slender, pendulous catkins, 3-4 inches long, usually in
threes, branching umbel-like from a common peduncle; scale 3-lobed,
hairy-glandular, middle lobe about the same length as the other two but
narrower, considerably longer toward the end of the catkin; stamens
mostly 5, anthers bearded at the tip: fertile flowers on peduncles at
the end of the season's shoots; calyx 4-lobed, pubescent, adherent to
the ovary; corolla none; stigmas 2.
=Fruit.=--October. Single or in twos or threes at the ends of the
branchlets, abundant, usually rather small, about 1 inch long, the width
greater than the length; occasionally larger and somewhat pear-shaped:
husk separating about to the middle into four segments, with sutures
prominently winged at the top or almost to the base, or nearly wingless:
nut usually thin-shelled: kernel white, sweetish at first, at length
bitter.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows almost
anywhere, but prefers a rich, loamy or gravelly soil. A most graceful
and attractive hickory, which is transplanted more readily and grows
rather more rapidly than the shagbark or pignut, but more inclined than
either of these to show dead branches. Seldom for sale by nurserymen or
collectors. Grown readily from seed.
[Illustration: PLATE XXVII.--Carya amara.]
1. Winter bud.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower, back view.
4. Sterile flower, front view.
5. Fertile flower.
6. Fruiting branch.
BETULACEÆ. BIRCH FAMILY.
=Ostrya Virginica, Willd.=
_Ostrya Virginiana, Willd._
HOP HORNBEAM. IRONWOOD. LEVERWOOD.
=Habitat and Range.=--In rather open woods and along highlands.
Nova Scotia to Lake Superior.
Common in all parts of New England.
Scattered throughout the whole country east of the Mississippi,
ranging through western Minnesota to Nebraska, Kansas, Indian
territory, and Texas.
=Habit.=--A small tree, 25-40 feet high and 8-12 inches in diameter at
the ground, sometimes attaining, without much increase in height, a
diameter of 2 feet; trunk usually slender; head irregular, often oblong
or loosely and rather broadly conical; lower branches sometimes slightly
declining at the extremities, but with branchlets mostly of an upward
tendency; spray slender and rather stiff. Suggestive, in its habit, of
the elm; in its leaves, of the black birch; and in its fruit, of
clusters of hops.
=Bark.=--Trunk and large limbs light grayish-brown, very narrowly and
longitudinally ridged, the short, thin segments in old trees often loose
at the ends; the smaller branches, branchlets, and in late fall the
season's shoots, dark reddish-brown.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, oblong, pointed, invested with
reddish-brown scales. Leaves simple, alternate, roughish, 2-4 inches
long, 1-2 inches wide, more or less appressed-pubescent on both sides,
dark green above, lighter beneath; outline ovate to oblong-ovate,
sharply and for the most part doubly serrate; apex acute to acuminate;
base slightly and narrowly heart-shaped, rounded or truncate, mostly
with unequal sides; leafstalks short, pubescent; stipules soon falling.
=Inflorescence.=--April to May. Sterile flowers from wood of the
preceding season, lateral or terminal, in drooping, cylindrical catkins,
usually in threes; scales broad, laterally rounded, sharp-pointed,
ciliate, each subtending several nearly sessile stamens, filaments
sometimes forked, with anthers bearded at the tip: fertile catkins about
1 inch in length, on short leafy shoots, spreading; bracts lanceolate,
tapering to a long point, ciliate, each subtending two ovaries, each
ovary with adherent calyx, enclosed in a hairy bractlet; styles 2, long,
linear.
=Fruit.=--Early September. A small, smooth nut, enclosed in the
distended bract; the aggregated fruit resembling a cluster of hops.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers dry or
well-drained slopes in gravelly or rocky soil; graceful and attractive,
but of rather slow growth; useful in shady situations and worthy of a
place in ornamental plantations, but too small for street use. Seldom
raised by nurserymen; collected plants moved with difficulty. Propagated
from seed.
[Illustration: PLATE XXVIII.--Ostrya Virginica.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower, back view.
4. Sterile flower, front view.
5. Fertile catkin.
6. Fertile flower.
7. Fruiting branch.
=Carpinus Caroliniana, Walt.=
HORNBEAM. BLUE BEECH. IRONWOOD. WATER BEECH.
=Habitat and Range.=--Low, wet woods, and margins of swamps.
Province of Quebec to Georgian bay.
Rather common throughout New England, less frequent towards the coast.
South to Florida; west to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Indian
territory, and Texas.
=Habit.=--A low, spreading tree, 10-30 feet high, with a trunk diameter
of 6-12 inches, rarely reaching 2 feet; trunk short, often given a
fluted appearance by projecting ridges running down from the lower
branches to the ground; in color and smoothness resembling the beech;
lower branches often much declined, upper going out at various angles,
often zigzag but keeping the same general direction; head wide, close,
flat-topped to rounded, with fine, slender spray.
=Bark.=--Trunk smooth, close, dark bluish-gray; branchlets grayish;
season's shoots light green turning brown, more or less hairy.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Leaf-buds small, oval or ovoid, acute to
obtuse. Leaves simple, alternate, 2-3 inches long, dull green above,
lighter beneath, turning to scarlet or crimson in autumn; outline ovate
or slightly obovate oblong or broadly oval, irregularly and sharply
doubly serrate; veins prominent and pubescent beneath, at least when
young; apex acuminate to acute; base rounded, truncate, acute, or
slightly and unevenly heart-shaped; leafstalk rather short, slender,
hairy; stipules pubescent, falling early.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile flowers from growth of the preceding
season in short, stunted-looking, lateral catkins, mostly single; scales
ovate or rounded, obtuse, each subtending several stamens; filaments
very short, mostly 2-forked; anthers bearded at the tip: fertile flowers
at the ends of leafy shoots of the season, in loose catkins; bractlets
foliaceous, each subtending a green, ovate, acute, ciliate, deciduous
scale, each scale subtending two pistils with long reddish styles.
=Fruit.=--In terminal catkins made conspicuous by the pale green, much
enlarged, and leaf-like 3-lobed bracts, each bract subtending a
dark-colored, sessile, striate nutlet.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers moist,
rich soil, near running water, on the edges of wet land or on rocky
slopes in shade. Its irregular outline and curiously ridged trunk make
it an interesting object in landscape plantations. It is not often used,
however, because it is seldom grown in nurseries, and collected plants
do not bear removal well. Propagated from the seed.
[Illustration: PLATE XXIX.--Carpinus Caroliniana.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower, back view.
4. Sterile flower, front view.
5. Fertile catkin.
6. Fertile flower.
7. Fruiting branch.
=BETULA.=
Inflorescence.--In scaly catkins, sterile and fertile on the same tree,
appearing with or before the leaves from shoots of the previous
season,--sterile catkins terminal and lateral, formed in summer, erect
or inclined in the bud, drooping when expanded in the following spring;
sterile flowers usually 3, subtended by a shield-shaped bract with 2
bractlets; each flower consisting of a 1-scaled calyx and 2 anthers,
which appear to be 4 from the division of the filaments into two parts,
each of which bears an anther cell: fertile catkins erect or inclined at
the end of very short leafy branchlets; fertile flowers subtended by a
3-lobed bract falling with the nuts; bractlets none; calyx none; corolla
none; consisting of 2-3 ovaries crowned with 2 spreading styles.
=Betula lenta, L.=
BLACK BIRCH. CHERRY BIRCH. SWEET BIRCH.
=Habitat and Range.=--Moist grounds; rich woods, old pastures, fertile
hill-slopes, banks of rivers.
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to the Lake Superior region.
Maine,--frequent; New Hampshire,--in the highlands of the southern
section, and along the Connecticut river valley to a short distance
north of Windsor; Vermont,--frequent in the western part of the state,
and in the southern Connecticut valley (_Flora of Vermont_, 1900);
Massachusetts and Rhode Island,--frequent throughout, especially in the
highlands, less often near the coast; Connecticut,--widely distributed,
especially in the Connecticut river valley, but not common.
South to Delaware, along the mountains to Florida; west to
Minnesota and Kansas.
=Habit.=--A medium-sized or rather large tree, 50-75 feet high, with a
trunk diameter of 1-4 feet, often conspicuous along precipitous ledges,
springing out of crevices in the rocks and assuming a variety of
picturesque forms. In open ground the dark trunk develops a symmetrical,
wide-spreading, hemispherical head broadest at its base, the lower limbs
horizontal or drooping sometimes nearly to the ground. The limbs are
long and slender, often more or less tortuous, and separated ultimately
into a delicate, polished spray. Distinguished by its long
purplish-yellow, pendulous catkins in spring, and in summer by its
glossy, bright green, and abundant foliage, which becomes yellow in
autumn.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk on old trees very dark, separating and cleaving
off in large, thickish plates; on young trees and on branches a dark
reddish-brown, not separating into thin layers, smooth, with numerous
horizontal lines 1-3 inches long; branchlets reddish-brown, shining,
with shorter lateral lines; season's shoots with small, pale dots. Inner
bark very aromatic, having a strong checkerberry flavor,--hence the
common name, "checkerberry birch"; called also "cherry birch," from the
resemblance of its bark to that of the garden cherry.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds reddish-brown, oblong or conical,
pointed, inner scales whitish, elongating as the bud opens. Leaves
simple, in alternate pairs, 3-4 inches long and one-half as wide,
shining green above and downy when young, paler beneath and
silvery-downy along the prominent, straight veins; outline ovate-oval,
ovate-oblong, or oval; sharply serrate to doubly serrate; apex acute to
acuminate; base heart-shaped to obtuse; leafstalk short, often curved,
hairy when young; stipules soon falling.
=Inflorescence.=--April to May. Sterile catkins 3-4 inches long,
slender, purplish-yellow; scales fringed: fertile catkins erect or
suberect, sessile or nearly so, 1/2-1 inch long, oblong-cylindrical;
bracts pubescent; lateral lobes wider than in _B. lutea._
=Fruit.=--Fruiting catkins oblong-cylindrical, nearly erect; bracts with
3 short, nearly equal diverging lobes: nut obovate-oblong, wider than
its wings; upper part of seed-body usually appressed-pubescent.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows everywhere
from swamps to hilltops, but prefers moist rocky slopes and a loamy or
gravelly soil; occasionally offered by nurserymen; both nursery and
collected plants are moved without serious difficulty; apt to grow
rather unevenly.
[Illustration: PLATE XXX.--Betula lenta.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower, back view.
4. Sterile flower, front view.
5. Fertile flower.
6. Fruiting branch.
7. Fruit.
8. Mature leaf.
=Betula lutea, Michx. f.=
YELLOW BIRCH. GRAY BIRCH.
=Habitat and Range.=--Low, rich woodlands, mountain slopes.
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to Rainy river.
New England,--abundant northward; common throughout, from borders of
lowland swamps to 1000 feet above the sea level; more common at
considerable altitudes, where it often occurs in extensive patches or
belts.
South to the middle states, and along the mountains to Tennessee
and North Carolina; west to Minnesota.
=Habit.=--A large tree, at its maximum in northern New England 60-90
feet high and 2-4 feet in diameter at the base. In the forest the main
trunk separates at a considerable height into a few large branches which
rise at a sharp angle, curving slightly, forming a rather small,
irregular head, widest near the top; while in open ground the head is
broad-spreading, hemispherical, with numerous rather equal, long and
slender branches, and a fine spray with drooping tendencies. In the
sunlight the silvery-yellow feathering and the metallic sheen of trunk
and branches make the yellow birch one of the most attractive trees of
the New England forest.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunks and large limbs in old trees gray or blackish,
lustreless, deep-seamed, split into thick plates, standing out at all
sorts of angles; in trees 6-8 inches in diameter, scarf-bark lustrous,
parted in ribbon-like strips, detached at one end and running up the
trunk in delicate, tattered fringes; season's shoots light
yellowish-green, minutely buff-dotted, woolly-pubescent, becoming in
successive seasons darker and more lustrous, the dots elongating into
horizontal lines. Aromatic but less so than the bark of the black birch;
not readily detachable like the bark of the canoe birch.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds conical, 1/4 inch long, mostly
appressed, tips of scales brownish. Leaves simple, in alternate pairs or
scattered singly along the stem; 3-5 inches long, 1/2-2 inches wide,
dull green on both sides, paler beneath and more or less pubescent on
the straight veins; outline oval to oblong, for the most part doubly
serrate; apex acuminate or acute; base heart-shaped, obtuse or truncate;
leafstalk short, grooved, often pubescent or woolly; stipules soon
falling.
=Inflorescence.=--April to May. Sterile catkins 3-4 inches long,
purplish-yellow; scales fringed: fertile catkins sessile or nearly so,
about 1 inch long, cylindrical; bracts 3-lobed, nearly to the middle,
pubescent, lobes slightly spreading.
=Fruit.=--Fruiting catkins oblong or oblong-ovoid, about 1 inch long and
two-thirds as thick, erect: nut oval to narrowly obovate, tapering at
each end, pubescent on the upper part, about the width of its wing.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in wet or
dry situations, but prefers wet, peaty soil, where its roots can find a
constant supply of moisture; similar to the black birch, equally
valuable in landscape-gardening, but less desirable as a street tree;
transplanted without serious difficulty.
Differences between black birch and yellow birch:
=Black Birch.=--Bark reddish-brown, not separable into thin layers;
leaves bright green above, finely serrate; fruiting catkins cylindrical;
bark of twigs decidedly aromatic.
=Yellow Birch.=--Bark yellow, separable into thin layers; leaves dull
green above; serration coarser and more decidedly doubly serrate;
fruiting catkins ovoid or oblong-ovoid; flavor of bark less distinctly
aromatic.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXI.--Betula lutea.]
1. Winter buds.
2. Flower-buds.
3. Flowering branch.
4-6. Sterile flowers.
7. Fertile flower.
8. Bract.
9. Fruiting branch.
10. Fruit.
=Betula nigra, L.=
RED BIRCH. RIVER BIRCH.
=Habitat and Range.=--Along rivers, ponds, and woodlands inundated a
part of the year.
Doubtfully and indefinitely reported from Canada.
No stations in Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, or Connecticut; New
Hampshire,--found sparingly along streams in the southern part of the
state; abundant along the banks of Beaver brook, Pelham (F. W.
Batchelder); Massachusetts,--along the Merrimac river and its
tributaries, bordering swamps in Methuen and ponds in North Andover.
South, east of the Alleghany mountains, to Florida; west, locally
through the northern tier of states to Minnesota and along the Gulf
states to Texas; western limits, Nebraska, Kansas, Indian
territory, and Missouri.
=Habit.=--A medium-sized tree, 30-50 feet high, with a diameter at the
ground of 1-1-1/2 feet; reaching much greater dimensions southward. The
trunk, frequently beset with small, leafy, reflexed branchlets, and
often only less frayed and tattered than that of the yellow birch,
develops a light and feathery head of variable outline, with numerous
slender branches, the upper long and drooping, the reddish spray clothed
with abundant dark-green foliage.
=Bark.=--Reddish, more or less separable into layers, fraying into
shreddy, cinnamon-colored fringes; in old trees thick, dark
reddish-brown, and deeply furrowed; branches dark red or cinnamon,
giving rise to the name of "red birch"; season's shoots downy,
pale-dotted.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, mostly appressed near the ends of
the shoots, tapering at both ends. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-4 inches
long, two-thirds as wide, dark green and smooth above, paler and
soft-downy beneath, turning bright yellow in autumn; outline
rhombic-ovate, with unequal and sharp double serratures; leafstalk short
and downy; stipules soon falling.
=Inflorescence.=--April to May. Sterile catkins usually in threes, 2-4
inches long, scales 2-3-flowered: fertile catkins bright green,
cylindrical, stalked; bracts 3-lobed, the central lobe much the longest,
tomentose, ciliate.
=Fruit.=--June. Earliest of the birches to ripen its seed; fruiting
catkins 1-2 inches long, cylindrical, erect or spreading; bracts with
the 3 lobes nearly equal in width, spreading, the central lobe the
longest: nut ovate to obovate, ciliate.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in all
soils, but prefers a station near running water; young trees grow
vigorously and become attractive objects in landscape plantations;
especially useful along river banks to bind the soil; retains its lower
branches better than the black or yellow birches. Seldom found in
nurseries, and rather hard to transplant; collected plants do fairly
well.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXII.--Betula nigra.]
1. Leaf-buds.
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; Massachusetts, 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 masses, 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, coarsely 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 pubescent.
=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 butterfly-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.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIII.--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.=