Although it can be made from the black sweet birch and the yellow birch, most birch syrup (and the best tasting) is made from the white birch trees that grow across northern Canada. They used a variety of species for bark harvest, such as Black or Sweet Birch (Betula lenta), Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis), Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera) and a few others. Paper birch (B. papyrifera) is whiter,but softer.Sweet birch (B. lenta) is a bit harder and has a deeper color.River birch (B. nigra) is more likely to contain knots.Birch boards average about 6-in.wide, and are available in lengths up to 12 ft.Lumberyards usually stock birch in 1- and 2-in. Illustration of evening, field, forest - 59140083 Red birch definition is - river birch. Birch wood has an even texture with a straight, closed grain. Make wintergreen extract from sweet or yellow birch. Or, instead of chopping, you could scrape up the outer bark to expose the green inner bark. Birch beer is made from the sap. Sweet birch is used for furniture, cabinets, boxes, woodenware, handles, and millwork, such as interior finish and flush doors. Butternut is self-fertile but it has better yields when planted near other butternuts. The twigs of the Yellow Birch when scratched give off a scent of wintergreen. Birch and wintergreen are the only plants in the world that naturally contain methyl salicylate. Carroll Co., VA 3/18/06. Sweet birch has attractive, dark shiny red, almost black bark that looks like that of the cherry tree and may be smooth or scaly plated. In many instances, it is packaged specifically to treat certain ailments, so it is important to pay close attention to a product before purchasing it. Betula is Latin for birch and describes a genus of about 60 species of deciduous trees and shrubs found in many gardens and landscapes throughout the northern hemisphere. Other native species often interspersed and sold with yellow are river birch (Betula nigra) and sweet birch (Betula lenta). MAINE REGISTER OF BIG TREES 2008 Yellow Birch Circumference: 200" Height: 48' Crown Spread: 91' Carroll Co., VA 10/16/06. Aromatic and long-lived (100 years or more), Betula lenta (Sweet Birch) is a single-trunked, medium-sized deciduous tree of conical habit in youth, becoming oval to rounded with age. Leaves are simple, alternate, and dark green, turning yellow in the fall. The yellow birch is one of our most valuable timber trees and makes excel-lent firewood. They are coloured dark green above and pale yellow green below. They are one of the primary hardwoods used in the distillation of wood alcohol and basically every part of the tree is serviceable in one way or another. Birch hardwood flooring comes in three major categories: paper birch, yellow birch, and sweet birch. and may occasionally be mixed in with yellow birch. Carroll Co., VA 5/10/09. SIDE HARDNESS/JANKA: 1260 (yellow) DIMENSIONAL STABILITY: Average (change coefficient .00338). The simple leaves are alternate, singly or doubly serrate, feather-veined, petiolate and stipulate. Yellow or Sweet Birch?? Grow it in zones 4 to 7 in full sun to partial shade. In the picture with 2 different branches, this tree is the branch on the right. With a sharp knife (which will need to be resharpened after this), chop the twigs into small lengths. Yellow birch’s bark peels in small curls.Very old trees have platy bark. The nuts are sought after for their mild, sweet, and oily taste. Its ascending branches are covered with ovate, serrated, shiny leaves, 2-6 in. The Birch Sweet Essential Oil is extracted through the process of steam distillation using the bark of the tree and is a clear to pale yellow colour in appearance. Derived from the White Birch tree, birch sweet is available in capsule, liquid, or powder form, and it is available to consumers in different strengths. In 2009 and 2010, we measured the sugar content of the sap from three different species of birch trees: paper, or white, birch (Betula papyrifera); black, or sweet, birch (Betula lenta); and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis). How to Grow. Birch species are generally small to medium-sized trees or shrubs, mostly of northern temperate and boreal climates. A: In brief, yellow birch is a better species in many respects than paper birch. Most Birch Trees have nice yellow fall color, but Sweet Birch is spectacular in this department. Lumber and veneer of the two species often are not separated in the market, although production of yellow birch far exceeds that of sweet birch. Today, true Wintergreen Essential Oil is not commonly used because the British School of Aromatherapy advises that is should not be used. Native to the eastern United States, the tree also attracts beautiful butterflies to the landscape, serving as a caterpillar/larval host. When days turn frosty, it turns a rich, glowing gold from head to toe, lighting up the whole garden. slade8200 Danvers, MA(Zone 6a) May 28, 2020. Bark on older trees becomes more cracked. Yellow or Sweet Birch?? Birch has a long list of historical significances and uses that date back centuries. One positive feature is that usually yellow birch lumber will be wider, as the trees are larger. VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Yellow birch, sweet birch, paper birch. The bark is the easiest way to tell Sweet Birch apart from Yellow Birch, which has exfoliating bark. They often appear in pairs, but these pairs are really borne on spur-like, two-leaved, lateral branchlets. Birch Syrup is a rare and delicious treat that is gaining popularity worldwide and is used by many of the top chefs across Canada. Yellow birch is a medium-sized hardwood tree, normally growing up to 25 m tall and 60 cm in diameter with a crown spread of 10 m. It has an irregularly rounded crown and a well-formed bole. There are over a dozen species of birch trees native to North America, but the most common are white birch, yellow birch, and black birch. Carroll Co., VA 9/24/06. This study took place in Lee, NH, and Durham, NH. Has the classic wintergreen scent when branches are broken. Birch is a native hardwood that comes from the genus Betula. Ensure this tree is planted in full sun and well-drained soil for best results. New Englanders often used birch in their homes for flooring, as it was durable and plentiful in the area. Paper birch (B. papyrifera) is softer and lower in weight and strength than yellow or sweet birch. Other reports separate yellow birch and combine sweet birch and paper birch with several other hardwood species. The White Birch has slender scaly branches and is indigenous to the northern hemisphere. Yellow birch will smell of wintergreen but with a bitter, somewhat astringent taste. Same tree flowering in the spring. … Scientific name: Betula alleghaniensis Une fermeture à l’échelle de la province entrera en vigueur le samedi 26 décembre 2020 à 00 h 01.Apprenez-en davantage au sujet des restrictions et des mesures de la santé publique qui sont en place. In individual State resource estimates, the three birches may be shown separately if the volumes present in the State justify a separation. Butternut vs Yellow Birch. A relatively young tree. Pulpwood production reports commonly combine the birches with beech and maple. Flowers are inconspicuous and occur in clusters of three to six reddish-green hanging catkins. More. In Appalachia, Birches were used much the same as elsewhere. Its leaves are brightly colored green and the bark has a reddish-brown hue. Female flowers develop into wind-dispersed, cone-like structures. Sweet birch is a source of birch oil, formerly a substitute for oil of wintergreen. I have a tree in my yard and I've never known which it is. It is about 20 meters long with light green egg-shaped leaves. The hard, close-grained wood is similar to that of yellow birch but denser and of deeper colour; both are used for veneer, flooring, furniture, doors, plywood, and vehicle parts. Bark of a mature tree. long (5-15 cm). Illustration about Sweet birch and yellow sunset. Yellow birch and white birch are the two most commonly found in woodworking. Sweet Birch is a relatively uncommon landscape tree in Minnesota. However, yellow birch is most commonly used for flooring. By contrast, the sapwood of sweet birch is light-colored, whereas the heartwood is dark brown with a red tinge. Sweet birch (Betula lenta) has dark-colored bark. Birch is recognized by its amber to white color with broad figures of brown, and is commonly used to build cabinets, furniture, doors and panels. 2: the heartwood lumber of the yellow birch (Betula lutea) and of the sweet birch (Betula lenta) The sapwood of yellow birch ranges from pale white to creamy yellow, while the heartwood tends to be a light-reddish brown with a red tinge. Birch sweet has long been an herbal remedy for a variety of different uses. Mark unread; Skip to new; Mark unread Print Skip to new. The leaves are elliptical and have toothed margins. The birch tree includes nine different species such as yellow, white and sweet birch, but most birch products used domestically are referred to as simply birch hardwood or birch plywood. Sweet birch (Betula lenta), also commonly called cherry birch or black birch, is a striking species of birch tree that is characterized by shiny black-brown bark and foliage that turns bright yellow in the fall months. The bark of yellow birch will have small curls of material similar to paper birch but thinner, with a golden hue. These trees and their cousin the Sweet Birch are used as the source for Oil of Wintergreen, used to flavour many medicines. Introduction: The yellow fall foliage of sweet birch is considered the best fall color among cultivated birches in the Midwest. Sweet Birch is approximately 25 meters long with a cone-shaped appearance. Sweet birch, as the name implies will have a sweeter and more potent scent, with a deliciously sweet wintergreen flavor. See more about wood species hardness on the Janka hardness scale Birch Syrup Research. Boards can vary greatly in grain and color. Both the foliage and the bark makes this specimen one of the fragrant plants. Yellow birch, identifiable by its gray to bronze-gray, almost metallic, bark color, grows abundantly in the northern U.S. and Canada. Main Uses: Birch Sweet is credited with being an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-pryetic, , antiseptic, astringent, depurative, diuretic, and tonic. It has a powerful fresh, almost minty and slightly sweet aroma. Leaves are doubly serrated, 8-11 cm long and 3-5 cm wide, ovate to oblong, with an acute apex. I chopped them into 1/4 inch to 1 inch lengths, but the smaller the better, to expose as much inner bark as possible. Native Americans used birch for canoe frames and arrow shafts. Sweet Birch can handle whatever Old Man Winter can dish out, but summer is another story. This species is resistant to bronze birch borer (BBB). Most importantly, sweet birch bears a more reliably strong, golden-yellow fall foliage than most other birches (whose autumn leaves sometimes lapse into paler yellows). Sweet birch is an attractive tree for lawns and naturalized areas, with shiny, red-brown bark and yellow foliage. Carroll Co., VA 9/24/06. Tree is about 50' tall. 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