Betula lutea Michx. f.
HABIT.—A tree 60-80 feet high and 2-4 feet in trunk diameter; numerous slender, pendulous branches form a broad, open, rounded crown.
LEAVES.—Alternate, solitary or in pairs, simple, 3-5 inches long and one-half as broad; ovate to oblong-ovate; sharply doubly serrate; dull dark green above, yellow-green beneath; petioles short, slender, grooved, hairy; slightly aromatic.
FLOWERS.—April, before the leaves; monoecious; the staminate catkins 3-4 inches long, slender, pendent, purplish yellow; the pistillate catkins sessile or nearly so, erect, almost 1 inch long, greenish.
FRUIT.—Ripens in autumn; sessile or short-stalked, erect, glabrous strobiles, about 1 inch long and half as thick; scales downy on the back and edges; nut about as broad as the wing.
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud absent; lateral buds about 1/4 inch long, conical, acute, chestnut-brown, more or less appressed; bud-scales more or less pubescent.
BARK.—Twigs, branches and young stems smooth, very lustrous, silvery gray or light orange; becoming silvery yellow-gray as the trunk expands and breaking into strips more or less curled at the edges; old trunks becoming gray or blackish, dull, deeply and irregularly fissured into large, thin plates; somewhat aromatic, slightly bitter.
WOOD.—Heavy, very strong and hard, close-grained, light brown tinged with red, with thin, whitish sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.—Throughout the state, but more abundant and of larger size northward.
HABITAT.—Prefers rich, moist uplands, but grows in wet or dry situations.