Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis)

Description

Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch,also known as golden birch),is a large and important lumber species of birch native to North-eastern North America. The name "yellow birch" reflects the color of the tree's bark. The name Betula lutea was used expansively for this tree but has now been replaced. 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.It is a medium-sized,typically single stemmed,deciduous tree reaching 60?80 feet (18?24 m) tall (exceptionally to 100 ft (30 m)) with a trunk typically 2?3 ft (0.61?0.91 m) in diameter.Yellow birch is a relatively long-lived birch which typically grows 150 years and may even grow up to 300 in old growth forests. It mostly reproduces by seed. Mature trees typically start producing seeds at about 40 years but may start as young as 20. The optimum age for seed production is about 70 years. Good seed crops are not produced every year and tend to be produced in intervals of 1?4 years with the years between good years having little seed production. The seeds germinate best on mossy logs, decaying wood or cracks in boulders since they cannot penetrate the leaf litter layer. Yellow birch saplings will not establish in full shade (under a closed canopy) so they typically need disturbances in a forest in order to establish and grow. The bark on mature trees is a shiny yellow-bronze which flakes and peels in fine horizontal strips. The bark often has small black marks and dark horizontal lenticels. After the tree reaches a diameter greater than 1 ft the bark typically stops shredding and reveal a platy outer bark although the thinner branches will still have the shreddy bark There is an uncommon, alternate form of the tree (f.fallax) which grows in the southern part of the range. F.fallax has darker gray-brown bark which shreds less than the typical form. The twigs, when scraped, have a slight scent of wintergreen oil, though not as strongly so as the related sweet birch which is the only other birch in North America to also smell of wintergreen. However, the potency of the odor is not considered a reliable identification method unless it is combined with other characteristics.