Common Name: Paper Birch, Canoe Birch, White Birch
Family: Betulaceae
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Plant is Native to: northern North America, Labrador to Alaska, south into northern Rocky Mountains, northern plains and Pennsylvania. Hardy to zone 2.
Plant Height at maturity: 50' to 70' tall.
Plant Habit and Form: Deciduous, medium-sized tree. Loosely pyramidal when young, becoming oval to rounded, with an irregular shape when older. Individual trees have single trunks, but are often grown in groups of 3 or 4 seedlings together to sell as "clump birches". Fast growing, especially when young. Branches often come close to the ground, unless limbed up.
Foliage: Alternate, simple ovate to narrow ovate leaf, 2 to 4" long and about two thirds as wide. Coarsely and doubly serrated. Tip is pointed or acuminate, base is either acute or heart-shaped. Dark green above, paler below with pubescent veins. Clear bright yellow in autumn.
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Bark: Thin, smooth and reddish brown on young branches, with horizontal lenticels. Becomes creamy white in the 3rd or 4th year. Barks is papery and peels freely to expose a reddish orange inner bark; On mature trunks, rough, black patches are mixed in with the white.
Penwood State Park, Bloomfield, CT
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Flower: Male catkins are brown, 2" to 4" long, grouped in 2. Female catkins are green, erect, 1 to 1.5" long, and grouped in 3. Blooms in early spring.
Fruit/Seed: Small nutlets, borne on pendulous catkins, 1 to 1.5" long.
Growing Requirements: Prefers well-drained, slightly acidic, moist, sandy or silty loams and full sun. Best adapted to cooler climates and does poorly in summer heat, especially in the root zone. Transplants well from container or balled and burlap. Avoid pruning in spring to prevent bleeding.
Problems and Drawbacks: Bronze birch borer, but is more resistant than B. pendula. Leaf miner, but is more resistant than B. populifolia. Intolerant of heat, harsh conditions, pollution.
Special Uses: Specimen tree on lawn in home, estate or park setting. Decorative bark.
ID Tips/Remarks: Chalky white bark, that exfoliates. Catkins are in 2s and 3s, and are fatter than other 3 catkin species (B. Nigra and B. pendula).
Bibliography:
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/b/betpap/betpap1.html
Dirr, Michael A. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, 1998 Stipes Publishing, Champaigne, IL
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