32 



Cornell Junior Extension Bulletin 26 



23. YELLOW BIRCH 



Silver Birch, Gray Birch 



(Betula lutea Michaux) 



Yellow birch is one of the most important and largest timber trees of 

 New York State. It is common throughout the State, except on Long 

 Island, on rich, moist uplands in company with beech and sugar maple, 

 but is found also with red spruce 

 in the swamps and along water- 

 ways. The heavy, very strong, 

 hard, close-grained, light brown 

 wood is largely used for furniture, 

 woodenware, flooring, interior fin- 

 ish, and for agricultural imple- 

 ments. Its value for fuel wood en- 

 titles it to a place in farmers' 

 woodlots. 



Bark — on young branches close, 

 bright, silvery, yellowish gray in 

 color ; with age peeling into thin 

 papery layers which roll back and 

 extend up the trunk in long lines of yellow bibch 



, „„ -] » •'„ ,,,„ ,„„i • ,™ „,^„„n .„.*- Leaf and twig, one-half natural size; 



ragged fringe, making excellent frUlit> one-fourth natural size 



tinder for starting a fire in the rain; on very old trunks becoming rough 



and furrowed, reddish brown in color. 



Twigs — similar to those of black birch thought more yellowish brown 

 in color, slightly wintergreen-flavored ; abundant, spur-like laterals as in 

 black birch. 



Winter buds — similar to those of black birch. 



Leaves — similar to those of black birch though with leal' margins more 

 coarsely serrate; undersurface somewhat hairy, particularly along veins. 



Fruit — similar to that of black birch though usually wider in propor- 

 tion to its length, falling in late autumn and throughout the winter. 

 Bracts — 3-lobed, distinctly hairy, while in the black birch they are 

 smooth. 



