of New York 



55 



GRAY BIRCH 



Betula populifolia, Marshall 



THE GRAY BIRCH, also called White Birch and Poplar 

 Birch, is among the most beautiful and the most adaptive 

 of North American trees. It thrives in wet places and grows 

 on dry and rocky mountain tops. It is conspicuous because 

 of its white bark marked with triangular black spots at the 

 origin of lateral 

 branches. 



The leaves are sim- 

 ple, alternate 2 to 3 

 inches long, triangular 

 to egg - shaped, long- 

 pointed, slender-stalked, 

 highly varnished on up- 

 per surface. 



The flowers are sim- 

 ilar to those of other 

 birches. 



The fruit is a slender 

 cylindrical spike con- 

 taining numerous small 

 winged seeds and 3- 

 lobed scales. 



The bark is close-fit- 

 t i n g, d u 1 1-w hite, 

 marked with triangular 

 black spots. It peels off 

 sparingly in layers. 

 Near the base of old 

 trunks it becomes dark 

 and rough. On small 

 stems it is golden yellow 

 and marked with as 

 many as 75 pale elon- 

 gated breathing pores per square inch. The twigs are slender, 

 grayish-brown, rough to touch. The wood is light, soft, 

 not strong, not durable. It is used for fuel and locally 

 manufactured into spools, novelties, and paper pulp. 



The Gray Birch is found from Nova Scotia to Lake On- 

 tario and south to Delaware and southern Pennsylvania. 

 This tree is common across New York south of the Adiron- 

 dacks, especially in the Hudson valley and Ontario lowlands. 

 It is rare or absent in the Chenango, Chemung, Susquehannah 

 and Allegheny valleys. It sprouts freely, producing as many 

 as 1 00 sprouts from a single stump. The Gray Birch rarely 

 exceeds 8 inches in diameter. 



GRAY BIRCH 



One-third natural size. 



