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| ## gray birch {#gray-birch .Title-Header}                             |
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| *Betula populifolia* Marsh.                                           |
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| Plant Symbol = BEPO                                                   |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data
Center![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.2916666666666665in"
height="1.5277777777777777in"}

##### Alternate Names  {#alternate-names .Header-3}

*Betula alba* var. *populifolia, Betula populifolia* forma *purpurea*,
fire birch, old field birch, poverty birch, white birch, wire birch.

**Uses**

*Conservation:* Gray birch is a pioneer species that can tolerate
multiple soil conditions. It is a good hardwood species for use in the
revegetation of mine spoils and other disturbed areas.

*Ethnobotanic:* Native Americans used a bark decoction of gray birch on
swollen or infected cuts.

*Landscaping:* Gray birch is an attractive tree that is often used as a
winter landscape plant or when space limitations require the use of
trees with a smaller stature. It can also be planted as a nurse tree to
protect more valuable pines in the landscape that require protection to
become established.

*Wildlife:* Beavers and porcupines chew the bark of gray birch.
Sapsuckers consume sap and songbirds consume the seeds. Ruffed grouse
eat the catkins and buds. Snowshoe hare, moose, and white-tailed deer
browse the twigs. Gray birch also provides cover for the bobcat and hare
in Maine.

*Wood products:* Gray birch is often used for fuel. It is also popularly
used for woodenware such as spools, spindles, and other turned articles.

#####  {#section .Header-3}

##### Legal Status {#legal-status .Header-3}

Gray birch is extinct in Delaware, endangered in Illinois, extirpated in
Indiana, potentially threatened in Ohio, and rare in Maryland. Please
consult the PLANTS Web site (http://plants.usda.gov) and your State
Department of Natural Resources for this plant's current status (e.g.
threatened or endangered species, state noxious status, and wetland
indicator values).

##### Description {#description .Header-3}

*General*: Birch Family (Betulaceae). Gray birch can be distinguished
from Betula papyrifera by its tight, non-exfoliating bark. Other key
characteristics include: tapered, sharp leaf tips (acuminate) and black
triangular bark patches on branch bases. Several trees occur in a
cluster, growing from the same root group.

Gray birch is a rapid grower (0.6 m per year) and short-lived
(approximately 20 years). The trees begin producing fruit at 8 years of
age.

Gray birch grows to 10 m tall; trunks are seldom over 1.5 dm thick. Bark
is chalky-white with black triangular markings. Leaves are acuminate,
with serrated edges near the tip. Male catkins (elongated flower
clusters) are yellow and 1.3 to 3 cm long. Female catkins are stouter
and resemble cones in appearance. Flowering takes place between April
and May. Fruit sets in late summer to fall, and seeds are wind dispersed
during late fall and winter.

*Distribution*: Gray birch is native to the northeastern United States.
It occurs from Nova Scotia to Southern Quebec, south to New Jersey and
Pennsylvania, with outlying populations in southern Ontario, northern
Ohio, northeast Indiana, and south to the North Carolina mountains. For
current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this
species on the PLANTS Web site.

*Habitat*: Gray birch is an early colonizer of poor sites, road cuts,
and burned areas. It is listed as a common associate of the aspen-birch
and beech-birch-maple communities in the northeastern hardwood forest.
However, it is not an indicator any particular habitat type.

##### Adaptation {#adaptation .Header-3}

The USDA Hardiness zones for gray birch are 3 to 8. It grows best on
moist, well-drained soil along streams, ponds, lakes, and swamps but
also on dry sandy or gravelly soils. Gray birch can grow in inorganic
soils of slopes and hillsides but growth is slow. Soils with high pH can
cause chlorosis of the foliage. It grows easily in sun and partial shade
but is shade intolerant.

##### Establishment {#establishment .Header-3}

Seed heads (strobiles) should be collected when they are still a little
green and then spread out in a dry place until strobiles begin to fall
apart. Seeds can be easily removed from the strobiles and are best
stored at 1% to 3% moisture content at 2.2 to 3.3^o^C. Cold storage
temperatures and exposure to light aid in germination. Birch seeds can
be sown after collection in the late summer or fall, or in the spring
after prechilling for 4 to 8 weeks. Cover seeds with soil to one times
the depth of the seed (approximately 3mm). Greenhouse temperatures
should be set at alternating temperatures of 30^o^C for 8 hours and
20^o^C for 16, with light supplied during the 30^o^C period. Seedlings
require light shade during the first 2 to 3 months of the first summer.

Rooted cuttings can also produce gray birch seedlings. Collect 8 to 10
inch apical cuttings from trees in November or late March to April.
Wound the base of each cutting by making two 1-inch longitudinal cuts.
Apply a rooting hormone containing approximately .10%
indole-butyric-acid (IBA) to the lower portion of the cutting, covering
the wounds, and place each cutting in a combined medium of coarse and
fine sand. If leaves are present, remove all but three apical leaves.
Place cuttings in a mist bed, keeping the soil temperature at 22-24^o^C.
Rooting will take place within 8 weeks.

##### Management {#management .Header-3}

Gray birch is an early colonizer of disturbed sites, growing best with
little competition from other species. It often forms pure stands from
seedlings and root suckers.

Gray birch is usually top-killed by fire, but will resprout from root
suckers. The tree can be killed by fire during drought periods when soil
organic matter is too dry to protect the roots. The species accumulates
abundant seed banks in the soil. Seedling regeneration following fire is
probable from the seed banks.

Gray birch is prone to injury by snow and ice.

##### Pests and Potential Problems {#pests-and-potential-problems .Header-3}

Birch leaf miner is a pest that is disfiguring to the foliage, but does
not kill the plant.

Gray birch can be susceptible to the bronze birch borer that can cut off
sap flow and cause branches to die back. A healthy vigorous tree is much
less susceptible to attack. The best way to prevent birch borer attack
is to plant the birch in a cool, moist, shady location and to keep it
healthy by watering and fertilizing when needed. A birch tree planted in
a sunny exposed area may lose vigor and become weakened allowing the
borers to become established.

##### Cultivars, Improved, and Selected Materials (and area of origin) {#cultivars-improved-and-selected-materials-and-area-of-origin .Header-3}

The NRCS Plant Materials Program has not released any cultivars of gray
birch for conservation use. Ornamental cultivars of this species include
'Laciniata,' with pinnately-lobed leaves, 'Pendula,' with drooping
branches, and 'Purpurea,' with purple young leaves.

Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government". The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

**References**

Brand, M. 2001. *Betula populifolia*
(http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/index.html). University of Connecticut
Plant Database, Storrs.

Coladonato, M. 1992. *Betula populifolia*
(http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis). USDA Forest Service, Rocky
Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Ft. Collins.

Gilman, E.F. and D.G. Watson. 2003. *Betula populifolia: gray birch*
(http://www.umaine.edu/ umext/mainetreeclub/FactSheetsGrayBirch.htm).
University of Maine Extension Service, Orono.

Karrfalt, R.P. 2004. *Betula L.* (http://wpsm.net/ Betula.pdf, 9
February 2004). USDA Forest Service, National Tree Seed Laboratory, Dry
Branch.

Mechling, W.H. 1959. The Malecite Indians with notes on the Micmacs.
*Anthropologica* 8: 239-263.

Mohlenbrock, R.H. 1995. *USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database*, Version 3.5
(http://plants.usda.gov, 18 February 2004). National Plant Data Center,
Baton Rouge.

Schneider, G. 1993. *Betula populifolia, gray birch*
(http://www.dnr.ohio.gov/dnap/heritage/). Ohio Department of Natural
Resources, Columbus.

Web of Species. 1998. *Gray birch, Betula populifolia*
(http://www.wellesley.edu/Activities/homepage/web/index.html). Wellesley
College, Wellesley.

#####  {#section-1 .Header-3}

##### Prepared By:  {#prepared-by .Header-3}

##### *Sarah Wennerberg* {#sarah-wennerberg .Header-3}

Formerly USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

##### Species Coordinator:  {#species-coordinator .Header-3}

*Mark Skinner*

USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

##### Edited: 26Feb2004 sbw; 21Oct2004 rln; 31may06 jsp {#edited-26feb2004-sbw-21oct2004-rln-31may06-jsp .Header-4}

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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