BETULACEAE - BIRCH FAMILY
Scientific Description:
Deciduous trees or shrubs. Buds scaly. Leaves alternate, simple; stipules caducous. Flowers unisexual, monoecious, in erect or pendulous catkins. Male catkins pendulous, flowers 3 to each bract, with 2−4 bracteoles, perianth present, stamens 2−4. Female catkins erect, oblong or cylindrical, flowers 2−3 per bract, with 2−4 bracteoles, perianth absent. Ovary 2-locular; each cell with 1 pendulous ovule. Fruit a small 1-seeded nut, usually winged, borne 1−3 together on fruit-scale consisting of accrescent, fused bract and bracteoles in a dense cone-like or cylindrical catkin.
Reference:
Davis PH (1982). Betulaceae,In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 7: 688.
Public Description:
“The birch family”, contains deciduous trees and shrubs and mostly natives of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with a few species reaching the Southern Hemisphere in the Andes in South America. They are include a number of popular ornamental trees, widely planted in parks and large gardens; several of the birches are particularly valued for their smooth, brightly coloured bark. The birch familyhave economic value because they are used in timber production. Some species have been used in the construction of cartwheels, water wheels, cog wheels, tool handles, chopping boards, and wooden pegs in order that the wood is hard and heavy and especially resistant to heavy erosion (particularly hornbeams).
References:
Anonymous (2015).https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betulaceae/, Accessed date: 22.12.2015.
