rigorous climate of Greenland, though there, of course, it is greatly diminished in stature.
The leaf varies slightly in outline from oval with a point to a rhombic form, with a long slender stalk, and the edges are doubly toothed. The silvery-white bark is continually discarding its outermost layer, which peels off in ragged, tissue-paper-like strips, revealing the newer, whiter bark beneath. In this country it is used in tanning, but in the far Northern parts of Europe it is put to a variety of uses. The inflorescence is a catkin, the sexes separate, but borne by the same tree. The flowers of the pendulous male catkin consist each of a single sepal with two stamens, the filaments of which are forked, each branch bearing one anther cell, so that each stamen looks like two. The female spike, which is more erect, and shorter, is composed of three-lobed bracts, each containing two or three flowers. These are simply two-celled ovaries, with two styles and stigmas. The fruit is round, flattened, with a notched broad wing. It flowers in April and May.
There is one other Native species, the Dwarf Birch (B. nana), a bush of no more than three feet in height, which occurs locally in the mountain districts of Scotland and Northumberland. The leaves are very small, round with rounded teeth; smooth, dark green, and with a short stalk. The seeds have very narrow wings. Flowers in May.
The name Betula is the old Latin designation for this tree.
The Alder (Alnus glutinosa).
The Alder, of which we have but one species, is own cousin
to the Birch, but we must not seek it in similar situations. The
Birch loves the breezy hillside, the Alder prefers the swampy
valley, the pond and river-side, its tastes being more thoroughly
aquatic even than those of the Willows. Its bark has some
resemblance to that of the Birch, especially when young, but in
later life is more rugged, and very dark. The leaves are nearly
round, doubly toothed, and with short stalks. When young
they are sticky, as are the young shoots. The male catkins are
