Birch

Birch is a thinleaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus Betula (/ˈbɛtjʊlə/), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams, and is closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The genus Betula contains 30 to 60 known taxa of which 11 are on the IUCN 2011 Green List of Threatened Species. They are a typically rather short-lived pioneer species widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in northern temperate and boreal climates.

Description

Birch species are generally small to medium-sized trees or shrubs, mostly of temperate climates. The simple leaves are alternate, singly or doubly serrate, feather-veined, petiolate and stipulate. They often appear in pairs, but these pairs are really borne on spur-like, two-leaved, lateral branchlets. The fruit is a small samara, although the wings may be obscure in some species. They differ from the alders (Alnus, other genus in the family) in that the female catkins are not woody and disintegrate at maturity, falling apart to release the seeds, unlike the woody, cone-like female alder catkins.

Birch (surname)

Birch is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

William Hamilton Page

William Hamilton Page (1829–1909) was a type designer and owner of William Page & Company, a leading manufacturer of wood type for letterpress printing.

Life and career

Page worked as a printer for several newspapers before learning the trade of wood type manufacturing from John Cooley in South Windham, Connecticut. In 1856 he and James Bassett purchased the assets of the defunct H. &. J. Bill & Company and went into partnership as Page & Bassett. In 1859 he withdrew from this partnership and became partners with Samuel Mowry, forming William Page & Company, near Norwich, Connecticut. This firm quickly became the largest and most efficient manufacturer of wooden type in the United States. It was only in the 1880s that a serious rival, the Hamilton Manufacturing Company owned by J.E. Hamilton, emerged. When Page retired in 1891, he sold out to Hamilton for stock in that company, and Page's equipment and stock were consolidated with that of Hamilton in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

Lionel

Lionel is a given name which may refer to the following:

People

Lionel convention

Lionel is a contract bridge bidding convention used in defense against an opposing 1NT openings. Using Lionel, over a 1NT opening of the opponents:

Any of the overcalls denote high-card strength corresponding to 12+ (or good 11) high card points.

The convention is named after Lionel Wright from New Zealand who published it in the International Popular Bridge Monthly magazine of May 1993.

Responses

Following the Lionel double, the partner of the double responds as follows:

(1NT) - dbl - (pass) - ??

After a minor suit Lionel overcall, the responses are straightforward. For instance:

(1NT) - 2♣ - (pass) - ??

Advantages/disadvantages

Like using Brozel, CoCa or DONT, using Lionel has the consequence of losing the penalty double over opponent's 1NT. Although this is often seen as a loss, Lionel Wright argued that this loss turns into an advantage as it opens the possibility to defend 1NT doubled with split points between you and your partner. As a balanced holding of the majority of points is far more likely to occur than holding the majority of points in an imbalanced way, a conventional non-penalty double over 1NT holds the potential of paying-off on many hands. Also, non-penalty doubles are more difficult to deal with than traditional business doubles.

Lionel (disambiguation)

Lionel is a masculine given name. It may also refer to: