50 Common Trees 



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OTHER OHIO BIRCHES 



HE Yellow Birch — Bctula lutea, Michaux — also called 

 . Silver Birch and Swamp Birch, is one of the most im- 

 portant timber trees of eastern North America, sometimes 

 reaching a height of 100 feet and a diameter of 4 feet. It 

 can be readily recognized by its ragged yellow bark, which 

 peels off in thin, papery scales. On old trunks the bark be- 

 comes reddish-brown and roughened with fissures. Its 

 twigs, leaves, flowers and fruit are similar to those of the 

 Black Birch, but the twigs lack the sweet wintergreen flavc)r, 

 and the fruit scales are smooth and equally lobed, while 

 those of the Yellow Birch are hairy and unequally lobed. 



The Yellow Birch is found from Newfoundland to 

 Minnesota, south to Pennsylvania and along the mountains 

 to North Carolina and Tennessee. In Ohio it occurs spar- 

 ingly to common in Ashtabula, Stark, Summit, Lake, 

 Cuyahoga, Lorain, Wayne, Fairfield and Hocking counties. 

 Rich uplands, borders of streams, swamps and ravines are 

 its favorite home. 



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iHE Black Birch — Betula lenta, Linnaeus — also called 

 . Sweet Birch and Cherry Birch, is one of the handsomest 

 of our native birches. The wintergreen flavor of the twigs 

 is an unfailing distinguishing characteristic Its bark is 

 smooth, shiny, and does not peel off m film-like scales. 

 Birch oil is extracted from its bark and twigs. Its wood is 

 used for furniture, interior finish, chemicals, novelties and 

 fuel The Black Birch is found from Newfoundland to 

 Ontario, south to Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina In 

 Ohio, it occurs locally in Fairfield, Hocking, Adams, Scioto, 

 Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Portage, Ashtabula and Wayne 



counties. 



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THE White Birch — Betula alba, Linnaeus — also called 

 European Birch, is native from northern Europe to 

 Japan Its bark is white, close-fitting, and peels off spar- 

 ingly. In the eastern United States it is common in ceme- 

 teries, along streets, upon lawns and in parks. The varie- 

 ties of the White Birch commonly found m Ohio arc U) 

 Cut-leaved White Birch; (2) Weeping White Birch; 

 (3) Cut-leaved Weeping White Birch; and (4) Purple- 

 leaved White Birch. This tree has won a prominent place 

 in American landscape work and deserves to be protected and 

 developed. The first memorial tree to Mother was a White 

 Birch, planted on Mother's Day at Reading. Pennsylvania, 

 in 1923. President Coolidge planted a White Birch tree 

 at the White House on Mother's Day, 1924. 



