Information about Yellow Birch
Yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) is the largest of eastern birches. Also known as Swamp birch, the Yellow birch is the official provincial tree of Quebec, where it is called "bouleau jaune".
Leaves: Oval, 8-11cm long; tip slender, sharp-pointed; base rounded, indented; deep yellowish-green on the upper surface, lighter beneath; veins straight, parallel, 9 or more per side, each ending in a large tooth, with 2 or 3 smaller intervening teeth. Performed leaves on dwarf shoots and the basal part of long shoots become hairless; neoformed leaves on the apical part of long shoots remain densely hairy.
Buds: Sharp-pointed, often hairy, especically on young trees; 2 shades of brown on each scale.
Twigs: Slender, usually slightly hairy, uniformly brown; wintergreen flavour when chewed.
Flowers: Pollen catkins about 2 cm long and 2-3 cm wide by late autumn, about 8 cm long at pollination. Seed catkins 1.5-2 cm long, erect at pollination.
Fruits: Mature seed catkins, about 3 cm long, cone-like, erect on spur shoots. Nutlets with narrow wings, Scales 5-7 mm long, hairy, with 3 narrow ascending lobes. Ripen in late September, shed during succeding months; catkins axis with its scales often remains on the tree over winter.
Bark: Thin shiny reddish-brown when young, becoming dull yellow, with thin, papery shreds ending in tight curls, not peeling readily. Gradualy darkens to a bronze color with age, separating into large ragged-edged plates on the lower part of the trunk.
Wood: Heavy, often waivy grained, hard, strong, golden brown to reddish-brown.
Size and Form: Medium-sized trees, up to 25 m high, 60cm in diameter, and 150 years old; occasionally older and larger. Trunk straight to sinuous, with little taper. Crown irregularly rounded; branches large, wide-spreading, with drooping tips. Root system wide-spreading, often with some larger roots on or above the surface because the seed germinated on a rotting log or stump.
Habitat: Occurs on rich moist soils; commonly mixed with beech, sugar/hard maple, basswood, eastern hemlock, balsam fir, eastern white pine, white spruce and red spruce. Moderately shade-tolerant; the most shade-tolerant of the eastern birches.
Quick Notes: Wood can be stained; takes a high polish; used extensively for furniture, cabinetwork, flooring, doors, veneer and plywood. An important source of hardwood lumber in eastern Canada.
Quick Recognition: Buds with 2 shades of brown. Twigs with a wintergreen flavour. Bark yellowish-gray with tight curls, broken into irregular plater on large trees.
Range: Yellow birch is found from Newfounland right through to central Ontario onwards to the extreme south eastern corner of Manitoba. Also found from western Minnesota on down to Georgia.
Sources: Trees in Canada, p. 294-295, John Laird Farrar, 1995.
The name "yellow birch" reflects the color of the tree's bark.
The wood of the yellow birch is extensively used for flooring, cabinetry and toothpicks. Most wood sold as birch in North America is from this tree. Several species of Lepidoptera use Yellow Birch as a food plant for their caterpillars. See List of Lepidoptera which feed on Birches.
Leaves: Oval, 8-11cm long; tip slender, sharp-pointed; base rounded, indented; deep yellowish-green on the upper surface, lighter beneath; veins straight, parallel, 9 or more per side, each ending in a large tooth, with 2 or 3 smaller intervening teeth. Performed leaves on dwarf shoots and the basal part of long shoots become hairless; neoformed leaves on the apical part of long shoots remain densely hairy.
Buds: Sharp-pointed, often hairy, especically on young trees; 2 shades of brown on each scale.
Twigs: Slender, usually slightly hairy, uniformly brown; wintergreen flavour when chewed.
Flowers: Pollen catkins about 2 cm long and 2-3 cm wide by late autumn, about 8 cm long at pollination. Seed catkins 1.5-2 cm long, erect at pollination.
Fruits: Mature seed catkins, about 3 cm long, cone-like, erect on spur shoots. Nutlets with narrow wings, Scales 5-7 mm long, hairy, with 3 narrow ascending lobes. Ripen in late September, shed during succeding months; catkins axis with its scales often remains on the tree over winter.
Bark: Thin shiny reddish-brown when young, becoming dull yellow, with thin, papery shreds ending in tight curls, not peeling readily. Gradualy darkens to a bronze color with age, separating into large ragged-edged plates on the lower part of the trunk.
Wood: Heavy, often waivy grained, hard, strong, golden brown to reddish-brown.
Size and Form: Medium-sized trees, up to 25 m high, 60cm in diameter, and 150 years old; occasionally older and larger. Trunk straight to sinuous, with little taper. Crown irregularly rounded; branches large, wide-spreading, with drooping tips. Root system wide-spreading, often with some larger roots on or above the surface because the seed germinated on a rotting log or stump.
Habitat: Occurs on rich moist soils; commonly mixed with beech, sugar/hard maple, basswood, eastern hemlock, balsam fir, eastern white pine, white spruce and red spruce. Moderately shade-tolerant; the most shade-tolerant of the eastern birches.
Quick Notes: Wood can be stained; takes a high polish; used extensively for furniture, cabinetwork, flooring, doors, veneer and plywood. An important source of hardwood lumber in eastern Canada.
Quick Recognition: Buds with 2 shades of brown. Twigs with a wintergreen flavour. Bark yellowish-gray with tight curls, broken into irregular plater on large trees.
Range: Yellow birch is found from Newfounland right through to central Ontario onwards to the extreme south eastern corner of Manitoba. Also found from western Minnesota on down to Georgia.
Sources: Trees in Canada, p. 294-295, John Laird Farrar, 1995.
| Yellow Birch | ||||||||||||||||
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) Yellow Birch foliage Yellow Birch foliage | ||||||||||||||||
| Conservation status | ||||||||||||||||
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secure | ||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||||
| Betula alleghaniensis Britt. | ||||||||||||||||
)
Yellow Birch bark
The name "yellow birch" reflects the color of the tree's bark.
The wood of the yellow birch is extensively used for flooring, cabinetry and toothpicks. Most wood sold as birch in North America is from this tree. Several species of Lepidoptera use Yellow Birch as a food plant for their caterpillars. See List of Lepidoptera which feed on Birches.
External links
- Flora of North America: Profile and map: B. alleghaniensis
- NCRS: USDA Plants Profile and map: B. alleghaniensis
- Betula alleghaniensis images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu
conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species: not simply the number remaining, but the
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Plantae
Haeckel, 1866[1]
Divisions
Green algae
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Haeckel, 1866[1]
Divisions
Green algae
- Chlorophyta
- Charophyta
- Non-vascular land plants (bryophytes)
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Magnoliophyta
Classes
Magnoliopsida - Dicots
Liliopsida - Monocots
The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms comprise the two extant groups of seed plants.
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Classes
Magnoliopsida - Dicots
Liliopsida - Monocots
The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms comprise the two extant groups of seed plants.
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Magnoliopsida
Magnoliopsida is the botanical name for a class of flowering plants. By definition the class will include the family Magnoliaceae, but its can otherwise vary, being more inclusive or less inclusive depending upon the classification system being
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Magnoliopsida is the botanical name for a class of flowering plants. By definition the class will include the family Magnoliaceae, but its can otherwise vary, being more inclusive or less inclusive depending upon the classification system being
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Fagales
Engler
Families
See text.
The Fagales are an order of flowering plants, including some of the best known trees. The order name is derived from genus Fagus, Beeches. They belong among the rosid group of dicotyledons.
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Engler
Families
See text.
The Fagales are an order of flowering plants, including some of the best known trees. The order name is derived from genus Fagus, Beeches. They belong among the rosid group of dicotyledons.
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Betulaceae
Gray
Genera
Alnus - Alder
Betula - Birch
Carpinus - Hornbeam
Corylus - Hazel
Ostrya - Hop-hornbeam
Ostryopsis - Hazel-hornbeam
Betulaceae, or the Birch Family
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Gray
Genera
Alnus - Alder
Betula - Birch
Carpinus - Hornbeam
Corylus - Hazel
Ostrya - Hop-hornbeam
Ostryopsis - Hazel-hornbeam
Betulaceae, or the Birch Family
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Betula
L.
Species
Many species;
see text and classification
Birch is the name of any tree of the genus Betula (Bé-tu-la
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L.
Species
Many species;
see text and classification
Birch is the name of any tree of the genus Betula (Bé-tu-la
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binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The system is also called binominal nomenclature (particularly in zoological circles), binary nomenclature (particularly in botanical circles), or the binomial classification system.
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Clipper Parthenos sylvia]]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
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The Clipper Parthenos sylvia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
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caterpillar is the larval form of a member of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). They are mostly phytophagous in food habit, with some species being entomophagous.
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Birches (Betula spp.) are used as food plants by the larvae of a large number of Lepidoptera species including:
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Monophagous
Species which feed exclusively on Betula- Bucculatricidae leaf-miners:
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