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Cornell Junior Extension Bulletin 26 



21. PAPER BIRCH 



Canoe Birch, White Birch 

 (Betula papyrifera Marshall) 



Paper birch is well known throughout the Adirondack^ and the Cat- 

 skills and along the highlands of the Susquehanna and Delaware drain- 

 age on account of its white, papery bark. This tree grows on a wide 

 range of soils ; it thrives along lakes, streams, and swamps, and main- 



PAPER BIRCH 

 Twig-, one-half natural size ; leaf and fruit, natural 

 size 



tains itself on the higher slopes of our mountains. Spools, woodenware, 

 shoe lasts, wood pulp, and fuel wood are made from its light, strong- 

 tough, hard, light brown wood. 



Bark — on young stems, golden to reddish brown in color, early be- 

 coming chalky white and peeling off in thin, papery layers, which once 

 separated from the tree are never renewed. Because it is tough, resinous, 

 durable, and impervious to water, it was the choice of all northern In- 

 dians for their canoes. Now it is the choice of the souvenir hunter. 



Twigs — stouter than those in gray birch, dull reddish brown in color. 



Winter buds — terminal bud absent as in gray birch; lateral buds 

 small, sharp-pointed, bending away from twig. 



Leaves — simple, alternate, blunt-pointed rather than slender at apex, 

 from 2 to 3 inches long, coarsely serrate on margin; at maturity dull 

 dark green in color above, paler below. 



Fruit — a cone-like structure as in the gray birch, 1 inch long, y 3 inch 

 thick', usually pendant rather than erect; nutlets and bracts falling in 

 late autumn and winter as with other birches. 



