Betula occidentalis odorless when scraped. The leaves are alternate, ovate to rhombic, long and broad, with a serrated margin and two to six pairs of veins, and a short petiole up to long. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins long, the male catkins pendulous, the female catkins erect. The fruit is long and broad, composed of numerous tiny winged seeds packed between the catkin bracts. The identity of similar birches in Alaska is disputed; some include them in "B. occidentalis", while others regard them as hybrids between "Betula neoalaskana" and "Betula glandulosa". Some Plateau Indian tribes used water birch to treat pimples and
The Orange Peels The Orange Peels The Orange Peels is a Northern California band that primarily produce music about life on the West Coast. Their music has a unique blend of orchestral pop, rock and indie-pop. Though the band's lineup has changed with each successive album, founding members Allen Clapp and Jill Pries have been the nucleus. In its early days, the group was an outgrowth of singer-songwriter Allen Clapp's fictional band Allen Clapp and his Orchestra, credited for Clapp's debut album "One Hundred Percent Chance of Rain" (The Bus Stop Label, 1994). Soon after the album's release, Clapp's high school friend Larry