River Birch (Mass., R. I., N. J., Del., Pa., W. Va., Ala., Miss., Tex., Mo., Ill., Wis., Ohio). Birch (N. C., S. C, Miss., La.). Water Birch (W. Va., Kans.). Blue Birch (Ark.). Locality. Massachusetts to Florida, westward intermittently to Minnesota and Texas. Best development in south Atlantic and lower Mississippi valley regions. Features of Tree. Thirty to eighty feet in height, one to three feet in diameter, sometimes larger. Dark red brown scaly bark on trunk. Red to silvery-white bark on branches. Bark separates in thin paper-like scales curling outward. Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood. Heartwood light brown, sapwood yellowish white. Close-grained, compact structure. Structural Qualities of Wood. Light, rather hard and strong. Representative Uses of Wood. Furniture, woodenware, shoe-lasts, ox-yokes. Inferior cask-hoops from branches. Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot. 35. Modulus of Elasticity. 1,580,000. Modulus of Rupture. 13,100. Remarks. Dark brown bark, whence name Red Birch. Prefers moist bottoms, whence name River Birch. [p073] YELLOW BIRCH. _Betula lutea Michx. f._ Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) Yellow Birch (local and common name). Gray Birch (Vt., R. I., Pa., Mich., Minn.). Swamp Birch (Minn.). Silver Birch (N. H.). Merisier, Merisier Rouge (Quebec). Locality. Newfoundland to North Carolina, westward intermittently to Minnesota and Texas. Best developed north of the Great Lakes. Features of Tree. Sixty to eighty feet or more in height, two to four feet in diameter. A medium-sized tree. Bark on trunk silvery gray to silvery yellow, branches green to lustrous or dull brown. Bark exfoliates, causing a rough, ragged appearance. Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood. Heartwood light reddish brown, sapwood nearly white, close-grained, compact structure, satiny. Structural Qualities of Wood. Heavy, very strong, and hard, tough, susceptible of high polish. Qualities suggest those of maple. Not durable when exposed. Representative Uses of Wood. Furniture, buttons, tassel-moulds, pill-boxes, spools, and wheel-hubs. Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot. 40. Modulus of Elasticity. 2,290,000. Modulus of Rupture. 17,700. Remarks. Occasional trees have thin outer bark ruptured, and exhibit inner bark of almost metallic yellow. Lutea, signifying yellow, alludes to color of bark. Inner bark has pungent, pleasant flavor. [p074] SWEET BIRCH, CHERRY BIRCH. _Betula lenta Linn._ Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) Sweet Birch, Cherry Birch (many localities). Black Birch (N. H., Vt., Mass., R. I., Conn., N. Y., N. J., Pa., W. Va., Ga., Ill., Ind., Mich., Ohio). Mahogany Birch (N. C., S. C.). River Birch (Minn.). Mountain Mahogany (S. C.). Locality. Newfoundland intermittently to Illinois, southward intermittently along Alleghanies to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida. Features of Tree.