Betula nigra (
River Birch; also occasionally called
Water Birch) is a species of
birchBirch is the name of any tree of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae.-Description:...
native to the
easternThe Eastern Half of The United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River...
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of...
west to southern
MinnesotaMinnesota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.2 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the...
, and south to northern
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
and east
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
. It is commonly found in flood plains and/or
swampA swamp is a wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a substantial number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types...
s.
It is a
deciduousDeciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
growing to 25 m (80 ft), rarely to 30 m (100 ft), high with a trunk up to 50 cm (2 ft), rarely 150 cm (5 ft), diameter, often with multiple trunks.
Betula nigra (
River Birch; also occasionally called
Water Birch) is a species of
birchBirch is the name of any tree of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae.-Description:...
native to the
easternThe Eastern Half of The United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River...
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of...
west to southern
MinnesotaMinnesota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.2 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the...
, and south to northern
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
and east
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
. It is commonly found in flood plains and/or
swampA swamp is a wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a substantial number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types...
s.
It is a
deciduousDeciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
growing to 25 m (80 ft), rarely to 30 m (100 ft), high with a trunk up to 50 cm (2 ft), rarely 150 cm (5 ft), diameter, often with multiple trunks. The
barkBark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
is variable, usually dark gray-brown to pinkish-brown and scaly, but in some individuals, smooth and creamy pinkish-white, exfoliating in curly papery sheets. The twigs are glabrous or thinly hairy, and odorless when scraped. The
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
are alternate, ovate, 4-8 cm (1.5-3 in) long and 3-6 cm (1.2-2.4 in) broad, with a serrated margin and five to twelve pairs of veins. The
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s are wind-pollinated
catkinA catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster, with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated but sometimes insect pollinated . They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged closely along a central stem which is often drooping...
s 3-6 cm (1.2-2.4 in) long, the male catkins pendulous, the female catkins erect. The
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
is unusual among birches in maturing in late spring; it is composed of numerous tiny winged seeds packed between the catkin bracts.
Cultivation and uses
While its native habitat is wet ground, it will grow on higher land, and its
barkBark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
is quite distinctive, making it a favored ornamental tree for
landscape useLandscape architecture is a the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve socio-behavioural, environmental, and/or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the careful design of...
. A number of
cultivarA cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of desired characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when propagated it retains those characteristics....
s with much whiter bark than the normal wild type have been selected for garden planting, including 'Heritage' and 'Dura Heat'; these are notable as the only white-barked birches resistant to the
bronze birch borerThe bronze birch borer Agrilus anxius is a wood-boring Buprestid beetle native to North America, more numerous in warmer parts of the continent and rare in the north. It is a serious pest on birch trees , frequently killing them...
Agrilus anxius in warm areas of the southeastern United States of America.
Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
used the boiled
sapSap may refer to:* Plant sap, the fluid transported in xylem cells or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant* A simpleton or fool* Sap, another word for a blackjack, an easily concealed club-like weapon...
as a
sweetener
A sweetener is a food additive which adds the basic taste of sweetness to a food; artificial sweeteners and natural sweeteners that aren't purely sugar are sugar substitutes.- Nutritive sweeteners :* Sugar alcohols* Honey* Fruits...
similar to
maple syrupMaple syrup is a sweetener made from the sap of some maple trees. In cold climate areas, these trees store sugar in their roots before the winter and the sap which rises in the spring can be tapped and concentrated. Quebec, Canada, produces most of the world's supply of maple syrup...
, and the inner bark as a survival food. It is usually too contorted and knotty to be of value as a
timberTimber may refer to:*Lumber, i.e. wood materials* Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Oregon* Timber , a 1984 arcade game by Bally Midway* An alternative spelling for Timbre...
tree.