THE RED BIRCH.
B. nigra, Linn.
Red birch or river birch wears its name in its chocolate hued or terra-cotta bark, whose scaly surface flaunts a series of tattered fringes to the very twig ends. Tall and graceful fountains of living green, these birches lean over stream borders from Minnesota and New York to the Gulf of Mexico, and reach westward to the foothills of the Rockies. Close-grained and strong, the pale brown wood is used for furniture, shoe lasts, and a multitude of wooden wares. In the bayous of the lower Mississippi, where it&
roots and the base of the trunk are inundated for half the year, the tree reaches its greatest size. The cones stand erect and shed their heart-shaped, winged seeds in June— an exception to the autumn-fruiting of all other birches.