Betula alleghaniensis
| Betula alleghaniensis | |
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| Yellow Birch foliage | |
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B. alleghaniensis
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| Binomial name | |
| Betula alleghaniensis Britt.
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| Natural range of Betula alleghaniensis | |
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Betula alleghaniensis (Yellow Birch), is a species of birch native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland to Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, southern Quebec and Ontario, and the southeast corner of Manitoba in Canada, west to Minnesota, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia.
It is a medium-sized deciduous tree reaching 20 m tall (exceptionally to 30 m) with a trunk up to 80 cm diameter. The bark is smooth, yellow-bronze, flaking in fine horizontal strips, and often with small black marks and scars. The twigs, when scraped, have a slight scent of oil of wintergreen, though not as strongly so as the related Sweet Birch. The leaves are alternate, ovate, 6–12 cm long and 4–9 cm broad, with a finely serrated margin. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins 3–6 cm long, the male catkins pendulous, the female catkins erect. The fruit, mature in fall, is composed of numerous tiny winged seeds packed between the catkin bracts.
Betula alleghaniensis is the provincial tree of Quebec, where it is commonly called merisier, a name which in France is used for the wild cherry.
The name "yellow birch" reflects the color of the tree's bark.[1]
The wood of Betula alleghaniensis 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 the species as a food plant for their caterpillars. See the list of Lepidoptera that feed on birches.
References
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Betula alleghaniensis. |
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- Betula
- Hardwood forest plants
- Flora of Eastern Canada
- Flora of the North-Central United States
- Trees of the Northeastern United States
- Trees of the Southeastern United States
- Flora of the Appalachian Mountains
- Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America)
- Provincial symbols of Quebec
- Natural history of the Great Smoky Mountains
