Few trees deserve greater appreciation than the black birch and few receive as little from people in general. It is always beautiful, but in winter when the smooth golden brown stems are bare and the sun strikes it squarely, it glows to the tip of the smallest branch with a wealth of radiant, living color. The black birch is easily distinguished by the dark color of its bark, which is smooth on young trees and cracks into rough square plates on old trees, but which never peels off in strips. Its gray stems have a sweet, spicy taste, which is also a means of identifying the tree. The wood is heavy, strong, and hard, and its surface after being polished is like satin. It is much sought after for furniture and is excellent for fuel. An oil made from the wood is used medicinally and as a flavoring extract, and a sweet beer is made by fermenting the sugary sap. The specific name, _lenta_ (pliant), refers to the flexible stems and branches of this tree. The black birch is found in rich woods throughout the Northeastern States. [Sidenote: Yellow Birch _Betula lutea_] _A beautiful straight tree, 50 to 90 feet high. Distinguished from the black birch by its yellowish or silver-gray bark, which, unlike the brown bark of the black birch rolls back and peels off in thin, filmy strips from the trunk. The bud scales overlap each other. Alternate leaf-scars. Delicate twigs with an aromatic taste, not as sweet_ _as the black birch. The catkins are larger round than those of the black birch._ [Illustration: YELLOW BIRCH _Betula lutea_ Page 65 ]