Plant Family: Betulaceae
Growth Form: Large tree, up to 30 meters tall; old trees have massive trunks and broad spreading crowns.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, ovate, double toothed, with pointed tips, up to 10 cm long. Broken twigs have a pleasant wintergreen aroma.
Bark: Silvery to golden yellow, peeling in thin strips on young and medium-sized trees; forming thick reddish-brown plates on older forest specimens.
Flowers: Male catkins at the ends of the twigs form in fall and lengthen and mature the next spring. Female catkins form in spring further back on the branches.
Fruits: Upright aments about 3 cm long ripen by late summer; seed dispersal is by wind.
Habitat: Cool moist woods, forested mountain slopes and ravines.
Range: Throughout New England, north into Canada, west to the Great Lakes, and south in the mountains to Georgia.
Key Feature: The golden or silvery yellow bark makes identification relatively easy, even in the winter, although young saplings may be indistinguishable from Black Birch.
Comments: Yellow Birch is an important component of old growth forests throughout its range. Most furniture and veneer sold as Birch is this species. Yellow Birch is the provincial tree of Quebec.
