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June 14, 2012
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Yellow Birch
(Betula alleghaniensis)
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Yellow Birch is also known as Gray Birch, Silver Birch, and Swamp Birch; a medium to large deciduous tree that grows 60 to 80 feet (maximum 100 feet) with a trunk diameter of 2 to 4 feet. Yellow Birch is one of the largest of the eastern hardwoods. It is very similar to Sweet Birch, but easily distinguished by its bark; an amber-yellow to silvery yellow-gray bark that peels off in thin curls.
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The leaves are 4 inches long, finely double-toothed, oval and short-stalked, dark green on top and paler green beneath, fruiting catkins, and 3-6 flower buds.
The Yellow Birch grows slowly, but makes up 75% of birch lumber in the United States. One of the most valuable of all birches, its heavy wood is used for furniture, flooring, and plywood. The thin peeled bark is highly flammable and is often used by campers as kindling. It is also a preferred browse by white-tailed deer, the bark is eaten by hare, cottontail, and beaver, and the buds are eaten by ruffed grouse.
The range extends from Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Pennsylvania and Minnesota, and along the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia. Seen commonly in the rich moist soils of northern Appalachians and Great Lakes region – grows in wetter environments then Sweet Birch. In Iowa the Yellow Birch is confined to northeast Iowa growing on steep wooded rocky north facing slopes.
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