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See also:BIRCH (Betula) , a genus of See also:plants allied to the See also:alder (Alnus), and like it a member of the natural See also:- ORDER
- ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
- ORDER, HOLY
order Betulaceae. The various See also:species of,birch are mostly trees of See also:medium See also:size, but several of them are merely shrubs. They are as a See also:rule of a very See also:hardy See also:character, thriving best in See also:northern latitudes—the trees having See also:round, slender branches, and serrate, See also:deciduous leaves, with barren and fertile catkins on the same See also:- TREE (0. Eng. treo, treow, cf. Dan. tree, Swed. Odd, tree, trd, timber; allied forms are found in Russ. drevo, Gr. opus, oak, and 36pv, spear, Welsh derw, Irish darog, oak, and Skr. dare, wood)
- TREE, SIR HERBERT BEERBOHM (1853- )
tree, and winged fruits, the so-called seeds. The bark in most of the trees occurs in See also:fine soft membranous layers, the See also:outer cuticle of which peels off in thin, See also:- WHITE
- WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
- WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
- WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
- WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
- WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
- WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
- WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
- WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
- WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
- WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
- WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
- WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
- WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)
white, papery sheets.
The See also:common white or See also:silver birch (B. See also:alba) (see fig.) grows throughout the greater See also:part of See also:Europe, and also in See also:Asia See also:Minor, See also:Siberia and See also:North See also:America, reaching in the north to the extreme limits of See also:forest vege-
tation, and stretching southward on the See also:European See also:continent as a forest tree to 450 N. See also:lat., beyond which birches occur only in See also:special situations or as isolated trees. It is well known in See also:England for its graceful See also:habit, the slender, grey—or white—barked See also:stem, the delicate, drooping branches and the quivering leaves, a See also:bright, clear See also:green in s p r i n g, becoming duller in the summer, but often keeping their greenness rather See also:late into the autumn. The male and See also:female See also:flowers are See also:borne on See also:separate catkins in See also:April and May. It is a See also:short-lived tree, generally from 40 to 50 ft.
high with a See also:trunk seldom more than 1 ft. in See also:diameter. It flourishes in See also:light soils and is one of the few trees that will grow amongst heather; owing to the large number of " winged seeds " which are readily scattered by the See also:wind, it spreads rapidly, springing up where the See also:soil is dry and covering clearings or See also:waste places.
The birch is one of the most wide-spread and generally useful of forest trees of See also:Russia, occurring in that See also:empire in vast forests, in many instances alone, and in other cases mingled with pines, poplars and other forest trees. The See also:wood is highly valued by See also:carriage-builders, upholsterers and turners, on See also:account of its toughness and tenacity, and in Russia it is prized as firewood and a source of See also:charcoal. A very extensive domestic See also:industry in Russia consists in the manufacture of wooden spoons, which are made to the extent of 30,000,000 annually, mostly of birch. Its pliant and flexible branches are made into brooms; and in See also:ancient See also:Rome the See also:fasces of the Iictors, with which they cleared the way for the magistrates, were made up of birch rods. A similar use of birch rods has continued among pedagogues to times so See also:recent that the birch is yet, literally or metaphorically, the See also:instrument of school-See also:room discipline. The bark of the common birch is much more durable, and industrially of greater
From Strasburger, Lehrbuch der Botanik.
Betula alba. 1, See also:Branch with male (a) and female (b) inflorescences; 2, bract with three male flowers; 3, bract with three female flowers; 4, infrutescence; 5, See also:fruit. (After Wossidlo.)
value, than the wood. It is impermeable to See also:water, and is there-fore used in northern countries for roofing, for domestic utensils, for boxes and jars to contain both solid and liquid substances, and for a See also:kind of bark shoes, of which it is estimated 25 millions of pairs are annually worn by the See also:Russian peasantry. The jars and boxes of birch bark made by Russian peasants are often stamped with very effective patterns. By dry See also:distillation the bark yields an empyreumatic oil, called diogott in Russia, used in the preparation of Russia See also:leather; to this oil the See also:peculiar pleasant odour of the leather is due. The bark itself is used in tanning; and by the Samoiedes and Kamchatkans it is ground up and eaten on account of the starchy See also:matter it contains. A sugary See also:sap is See also:drawn from the trunk in the See also:spring before the opening of the See also:leaf-buds, and is fermented into a kind of See also:beer and See also:vinegar. The whole tree, but especially the bark and leaves, has a very pleasant resinous odour, and from the See also:young leaves and buds an essential oil is distilled with water. The leaves are used as See also:fodder in northern latitudes.
The species which belong peculiarly to America (B. lenta, excelsa, See also:nigra, papyracea, &c.) are generally similar in See also:appearance and properties to B. alba, and have the same range of applications. The largest and most valuable is the See also:black birch (B. lenta) found abundantly over an extensive See also:area in See also:British North America, growing 6o to 70 ft. high and 2 to 3 ft. in diameter. It is a wood most extensively used for See also:furniture and for carriage-See also:building, being tough in texture and bearing shocks well, while much of it has a handsome See also:grain and it is susceptible of a fine See also:polish. The bark, which is dark See also:- BROWN
- BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN (1771-181o)
- BROWN, FORD MADOX (1821-1893)
- BROWN, FRANCIS (1849- )
- BROWN, GEORGE (1818-188o)
- BROWN, HENRY KIRKE (1814-1886)
- BROWN, JACOB (1775–1828)
- BROWN, JOHN (1715–1766)
- BROWN, JOHN (1722-1787)
- BROWN, JOHN (1735–1788)
- BROWN, JOHN (1784–1858)
- BROWN, JOHN (1800-1859)
- BROWN, JOHN (1810—1882)
- BROWN, JOHN GEORGE (1831— )
- BROWN, ROBERT (1773-1858)
- BROWN, SAMUEL MORISON (1817—1856)
- BROWN, SIR GEORGE (1790-1865)
- BROWN, SIR JOHN (1816-1896)
- BROWN, SIR WILLIAM, BART
- BROWN, THOMAS (1663-1704)
- BROWN, THOMAS (1778-1820)
- BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD (1830-1897)
- BROWN, WILLIAM LAURENCE (1755–1830)
brown or reddish, and very durable, is used by See also:Indians and backwoodsmen in the same way as the bark of B. alba is used in northern Europe.
The See also:canoe or See also:paper birch (B. papyracea) is found as far north as 70° N. on the See also:American continent, but it becomes rare and stunted in the See also:Arctic circle. See also:Professor See also:Charles Sprague See also:Sargent says: " It is one of the most widely distributed trees of North America. From Labrador it ranges to the See also:southern shores of See also:Hudson's See also:Bay and to those of the See also:Great See also:Bear See also:Lake, and to the valley of the See also:Yukon and the See also:coast of See also:Alaska, forming with the See also:aspen, the See also:larch, the See also:balsam See also:poplar, the banksian See also:pine, the black and white spruces and the balsam See also:fir, the great subarctic transcontinental forest; and southward it ranges through all the forest region of the Dominion of See also:Canada and the northern states." It is a tree of the greatest value to the inhabitants of the See also:Mackenzie See also:river See also:district in British North America. Its bark is used for the construction of canoes, and for drinking-cups, dishes and baskets. From the wood, platters, See also:axe-handles, See also:snow-See also:shoe frames, and See also:dog sledges are made, and it is worked into articles of furniture which are susceptible of a See also:good polish. The sap which flows in the spring is drawn off and boiled down to an agreeable spirit, or fermented with a birch-See also:wine of consider-able alcoholic strength. The bark is also used as a substitute for paper. A species (B. Bhojputtra) growing on the Himalayan Mountains, as high up as 9000 ft., yields large quantities of fine thin papery bark, extensively sent down to the plains as a substitute for wrapping paper, for covering the " See also:snakes " of hookahs and for umbrellas. It is also said to be used as See also:writing paper by the mountaineers; and in See also:Kashmir it is in See also:general use for roofing houses.
End of Article: BIRCH (Betula)
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