White Birch (Paper Birch) (Trees of Manitoba)

White Birch (Paper Birch)

Betula papyrifera

Traditional Indigenous Names ⁸

Cree: Waskwayátik
Ojibwe: Wiigwaasaatig
Dakota: Tanpa chan
Ojibwe-Cree: Wiikwaahsaahtik
Dene: K’ih

Summary from Wikipedia ⁹

Betula papyrifera (paper birch, also known as white birch and canoe birch) is a short lived species of birch native to northern North America. Paper birch is named due to the thin white bark which often peels in paper like layers from the trunk. Paper birch is often one of the first species to colonize a burned area within the northern latitudes and an important species for moose browse. The wood is often used for pulpwood...

Easy identifiers ⁸

A tell-tale sign that the tree you are looking at is a White Birch is if the bark peals easily and looks like paper. From afar, a White Birch may have multiple stems and often has an oval shaped crown when given the room to grow.

Form ⁸

Small-to-medium sized deciduous tree or coarse shrub with ascending, spreading branches. During winter, the reddish-brown branches contrast with the white trunk of mature trees.

Bark ⁸

Thin, smooth, at first dark but becoming creamy to pinkish-white, easily separating into papery layers.

Twigs ⁸

Alternate, moderately stout, hairy at first but becoming smooth, reddish-brown, shiny. Lenticels numerous, small, circular, yellowish. Terminal bud sharp-pointed, about 5 - 7 millimetres (1/4 inch) long, chestnut-brown, curved, slightly sticky and hairy; lateral buds smaller. Leaf scars very small, moon-shaped, with three bundle scars.

Leaves ⁸

Alternate, simple, usually triangular, coarse double-toothed, 5 - 10 centimetres (1 1/2 - 4 inches) long, slender stalked, hairy beneath at least when young.

Flowers ⁸

April to May, in catkins.

Fruit ⁸

A dry two-winged nut, less than 1.5 - 2.5 millimetres (1/2 inch) broad in drooping cone-like catkins 3 - 5 centimetres (1 - 2 1/2 inches) long.

Occurrence ⁸

In moist to dry habitats throughout the forested ecozones of Manitoba

Fun facts ⁸

Peeling off too much of the bark on a White Birch can end up killing the tree. White Birch bark was used by First Nations peoples for a large variety of things including making canoes, household containers, animal traps, as well as used for burning, writing on, and medicine.
White Birch can also be tapped to make syrup, vinegar and beer.

Note ⁸

Alaska birch (Betula neoalaskana Sarg.) is similar, but has warty twigs and mature bark that does not peel as readily as white birch. Occurs throughout much of Manitoba.

Sources and Credits

(c) Manitoba Forestry, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Manitoba Forestry
(c) Marie Studer, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Marie Studer
(c) Ryan Hodnett, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhodnett/42029539635/
(c) Kent McFarland, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/vtebird/8421243103/
(c) InAweofGod'sCreation, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/nhoulihan/3674424875/
(c) Homer Edward Price, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/28340342@N08/6201520667/
(c) Nicholas A. Tonelli, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholas_t/15567360107/
(c) Manitoba Forestry, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Adapted by Manitoba Forestry from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betula_papyrifera

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