RED BIRCH; RIVER BIRCH (Betula nigra, Linn.). 60 to 90 feet. Handsome, round-headed tree, becoming irregular and picturesque when aged. Limbs slender, often twisted, drooping below. Bark furrowed, brownish red, with irreg ular plates coated with silky reddish outer bark, like that which covers the smooth limbs; twigs coated with thick, reddish tomentum the first season. Wood light brown, fine-grained, strong, light, hard, used for furniture, wooden shoes, in turned work of all sorts, and for fuel. Leaves ovate, acute, doubly serrate, 1 to 3 inches long, thin, shining dark green above, yellow-green beneath, petioles short, fuzzy, flat. Flowers
before leaves, March, as described in preceding species. Fruit ripe in June, erect, cylindrical cones, hairy, 1 to 2 inches long with bracts 3-fingered at top, and oval, hairy, broad winged nutlet. Dist.: Along lake shores, swamps, and river courses, Massachusetts to Florida, west to Texas; following Mississippi River from Minnesota to the Gulf; also in Ohio, southern Wisconsin and eastern Nebraska. Desirable orna mental tree. Planted in copses to hold banks from washing.