Plant Family: Betulaceae
Growth Form: Medium-sized, relatively short-lived tree to 20 meters tall.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, ovate, coarsely toothed, bases straight or slightly rounded.
Bark: Saplings have chocolate brown bark with white lenticels, maturing tocreamy white and peeling off in broad strips.
Flowers: Male catkins near the twig tips in groups of two or three, 5 – 10 cm long; female catkins shorter, April to June.
Fruits: Long cylindrical aments up to 6 cm long, late summer to fall.
Habitat: Open deciduous and mixed woods, lakeshores, hillsides, where the soil is rich and deep; often the first to colonize after a disturbance, such as fire or blowdown.
Range: Transcontinental, from the Maritime Provinces and New England west across the northern tier of States and Canada to Alaska; cold hardy, found north to the tree line.
Similar Species: Heart-leaved Birch has heart-shaped leaves and grows at elevation.
Comments: The bark and leaves are browsed by moose and deer; birds and small mammals of the boreal forest rely on the seeds in winter. The sap can be collected to make birch syrup, although this is not commercially important. Paper Birch is the state tree of New Hampshire and the provincial tree of Saskatchewan.
