Part 31

HABITAT.--Prefers dry, gravelly slopes and ridges.

NOTES.--Often grows in shade of other trees. Not easily transplanted. Rather slow of growth. Too small for street use.

1. Winter twig, × 1. 2. Portion of twig, enlarged. 3. Leaf, × 1. 4. Flowering branchlet, × 1/2. 5. Staminate flower, enlarged. 6. Pistillate flower, enlarged. 7. Fruit, × 1/2.]

+BETULACEAE+

+Blue Beech. Water Beech+

Carpinus caroliniana Walt.

HABIT.--Usually a low, bushy tree or large shrub, 10-30 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 6-12 inches; trunk short, usually fluted; slender zigzag branches and a fine spray form a close, flat-topped crown.

LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 2-4 inches long and one-half as broad; ovate to oval, long-pointed; sharply doubly serrate; thin and firm; dull green above, lighter beneath, turning scarlet and orange in autumn; petioles short, slender, hairy.

FLOWERS.--May, after the leaves; monoecious; apetalous; the staminate catkins 1-1-1/2 inches long, their scales greenish, boat-shaped, each bearing 3-20 stamens; the pistillate catkins 1/2-3/4 inch long, their scales hairy, greenish, each bearing 2 pistils with long, scarlet styles.

FRUIT.--Ripens in midsummer, but often remains on the tree long after the leaves have fallen; in loose, terminal strobiles; involucre halberd-shaped, inclosing a small, ovate, brownish nut.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud absent; lateral buds 1/8 inch long, narrow-ovoid, acute, puberulous, brownish.

BARK.--Twigs pale green, hairy, becoming lustrous, dark red the first winter; trunk and large limbs thin, smooth, close, dark bluish gray, often mottled with lighter or darker patches.

WOOD.--Heavy, hard, tough, very strong, close-grained, light brown, with thick, whitish sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Common throughout the state.

HABITAT.--Prefers a deep, rich, moist soil along the borders of streams and swamps. Often found in drier situations in the shade of other trees.

NOTES.--Propagated from seed. Not easily transplanted. Slow of growth. Seldom found in masses.

+SUMMER KEY TO THE SPECIES OF BETULA+

a. Bark of trunk white, separating freely into thin, papery layers; twigs without wintergreen taste; leaves usually solitary, not aromatic. B. alba papyrifera, p. 91.

aa. Bark of trunk not white, usually dark colored, not separating freely into papery layers; twigs with more or less wintergreen taste; leaves solitary or in pairs, aromatic.

b. Bark dirty-yellow, breaking into strips more or less curled at the edges; leaves solitary or in pairs, slightly aromatic; twigs with slight wintergreen taste. B. lutea, p. 89.

bb. Bark dark red-brown, cleaving off in thick, irregular plates (resembles bark of Black Cherry); leaves in pairs, strongly aromatic; twigs with strong wintergreen taste. B. lenta, p. 87.

+WINTER KEY TO THE SPECIES OF BETULA+

a. Bark of trunk white, separating freely into thin, papery layers; twigs without wintergreen taste. B. alba papyrifera, p. 91.

aa. Bark of trunk not white, usually dark colored, not separating into papery layers; twigs with more or less wintergreen taste.

b. Bark dirty-yellow, breaking into strips more or less curled at the edges; twigs with slight wintergreen taste. B. lutea, p. 89.

bb. Bark dark red-brown, cleaving off in thick, irregular plates (resembles bark of Black Cherry); twigs with strong wintergreen taste. B. lenta, p. 87

1. Winter twig, × 1. 2. Portion of twig, enlarged. 3. Leaf, × 1/2. 4. Flowering branchlet, × 1/2. 5. Staminate flower, enlarged. 6. Pistillate flower, enlarged. 7. Fruiting branchlet, × 1/2. 8. Fruit, enlarged.]

+BETULACEAE+