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| ## Yellow birch {#yellow-birch .Title-Header}                         |
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| *Betula alleghaniensis* Britt.                                        |
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| Plant Symbol = BEAL2                                                  |
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####### *Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & Biota of North America Program*

### Alternate common names

Gray birch, silver birch, swamp birch

### Uses

The wood of yellow birch is heavy, strong, close-grained, even-textured,
and shows a wide color variation, from reddish brown to creamy white. It
is used for furniture, cabinetry, charcoal, pulp, interior finish,
veneer, tool handles, boxes, woodenware, and interior doors. The wood
can be stained and takes a high polish. Yellow birch is one of the
principal hardwoods used in the distillation of wood alcohol, acetate of
lime, charcoal, tar, and oils.

Deer consume large numbers of yellow birch seedlings in summer and
prefer green leaves and woody stems in fall. Moose, white-tailed deer,
and snowshoe hare also browse yellow birch. The seeds are eaten by
various songbird species, and ruffed grouse feed on seeds, catkins, and
buds. Red squirrel cut and store mature catkins and eat the seeds.
Beaver and porcupine chew the bark.

The sap of yellow birch can be tapped for use as edible syrup. Tea is
sometimes made from the twigs and/or inner bark.

Yellow birch sees limited use in landscape plantings, partly because it
may be relatively hard to locate at local nurseries. It is a good lawn
tree, providing relatively light shade, and it has showy bark and fall

foliage colors. It also is a good edge tree for naturalized areas.
Although yellow birch grows best in full sun, cherry birch is better
suited to hotter or drier sites.

### Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values.

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.598611111111111in"
height="1.7354166666666666in"}

### Description 

*General*: Birch Family (Betulaceae). These are native trees mostly
15-20(-30) m tall, with straight trunks and variable crowns; mature bark
smooth and shiny, usually separating into thin layers, giving a shaggy
appearance; lenticels dark, horizontally; twigs with odor and taste of
wintergreen, usually with small resinous glands. Leaves are deciduous,
alternate, simple, narrowly ovate to broadly oblong, 6-10 cm long, base
rounded to cuneate or cordate, margins sharply doubly toothed, apex
acuminate, usually softly hairy beneath along major veins and in vein
axils, often with scattered, minute, resinous glands. Male (pollen) and
female (seed) flowers are in catkins, borne separately, but on the same
tree. Seed catkins are erect, ovoid, 1.5-3 cm long, generally remaining
intact after release of fruits in late fall, scales 3-lobed, sparsely to
moderately hairy; pollen catkins elongate and hanging. Seeds (nutlets)
have wings narrower than body. The common name pertains to the yellow
color of the bark and fall leaves.

*Variation within the species*. Two varieties have been recognized (see
Fernald 1950; Braun 1961); var. *macrolepis* differs from typical
variety *alleghaniensis* in its larger fruiting catkin scales (8-13 mm
long vs. 5-8 mm), with more elongated basal portion. Erdmann (1990) and
Furlow (1993) regard the species as variable but without formally
recognized varieties.

Yellow birch is closely similar to cherry birch (*Betula lenta*). Cherry
birch differs in its light grayish brown bark that remains close (vs.
dark, freely exfoliating bark), leaves with fine, sharp teeth (vs.
coarse teeth), and catkin scales without hairs (vs. hairy scales). The
twigs and inner bark of cherry birch have a stronger wintergreen odor.
Yellow birch forms natural hybrids with paper birch (*B. papyrifera*)
and with bog birch (*B. pumila*).

### Distribution

Yellow birch ranges from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and
Anticosti Island west through southern Ontario to extreme southeastern
Manitoba; south to Minnesota and northeastern Iowa; east to northern
Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania to northern New Jersey and New England; and
south in the Appalachian Mountains to eastern Tennessee and northeastern
Georgia. For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page
for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

### Establishment 

*Adaptation*: Yellow birch is a characteristic tree of the northern
Appalachians and the hemlock hardwoods forest of the Great Lakes region,
at elevations of mostly 0-500 meters but up to 1050 meters. In the
Appalachians and the Adirondacks, yellow birch reaches its maximum
importance in the transition zone between low elevation deciduous forest
and montane spruce-fir forests. Yellow birch occurs on moist,
well-drained soils of various types of uplands and mountain ravines and
along stream banks and in swampy woods. It may also grow where drainage
is restricted, but growth may be correspondingly poor. Flowering:
April-May, beginning before leafing; fruiting: July-August.

*General*: Yellow birch reproduces primarily by seed, normally first at
about 40 years but optimally at about 70 years -- trees under 20 years
sometimes produce seed. Good seed crops are produced at intervals of 1-4
years, usually with little seed produced in intervening years. Viability
under natural conditions decreases around the second year.

Seeds germinate and grow best on moist mineral soil enriched with humus,
but those in undisturbed stands usually germinate on mossy logs, decayed
wood, in cracks in boulders, and on wind thrown tree hummocks. Seedlings
cannot pierce compacted hardwood litter. Scarification of seedbeds
improves seedling establishment, but organic matter should be left mixed
in with the mineral soil. Seed dormancy is broken (under artificial
conditions) by stratification or by exposure of wet seed to cool-white
fluorescent light. Seeds can be stored 2-4 years or longer without
losing viability.

Gap conditions are conducive to yellow birch seedling establishment, and
seedling survival is better on disturbed microsites. Mortality of
seedlings is usually very high. Seedlings surviving their first year
survive to sapling and larger stages only where there is sufficient
light, although some shade improves seedling survival.

Yellow birch has been termed "a persistent successional species." Its
presence in mid- to late-successional stands depends on local
disturbance; it cannot reproduce under a closed canopy and requires soil
disturbance and light for seedling survival. Older trees do not sprout.
In northern hardwood ecosystems, yellow birch reaches maximum importance
levels within 15 years of disturbance, and those levels are maintained
for at least 100 years. In many old-growth stands, yellow birch usually
decreases in importance as the stand ages, but the species is often a
component of old growth types and sometimes occurs as a major component
of climax stands, perhaps through a combination of longevity and
micro-succession. Yellow birch often reaches 150 years; the average age
in old growth woods may be 200-250 years. Maximum age is over 300 years.

### Management

Heavy or repeated browsing of yellow birch by deer and moose kills small
yellow birch and may prevent regeneration. Heavy feeding by porcupine
and yellow-bellied sapsucker reduces growth, lowers wood quality, and is
sometimes fatal.

Heavy cuts in older stands may be followed by top dieback and mortality.
Recently isolated trees, in particular, are subject to wind throw on
shallow soils and susceptible to winter sunscald. All are sensitive to
high soil temperatures. Harvest of yellow birch timber should coincide
with good seed years, because the trees regenerate primarily by
germination, and openings for regeneration should be provided.

Yellow birch can be grown from seed relatively easily. Artificial
propagation can be done through greenwood cuttings and by grafting.

### Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

The species may be hard to locate in local nurseries, but it can be
ordered.

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

Braun, E.L. 1961. *The woody plants of Ohio*. Ohio State Univ. Press,
Columbus, Ohio.

Erdmann, G.G. 1990. *Betula alleghaniensis* *Britton*. Yellow Birch. Pp.
133-147, IN: R.M. Burns and B.H. Honkala (tech. coords.). *Silvics of
North America*. *Volume 2*. *Hardwoods*. USDA, Forest Service Agric.
Handbook 654, Washington, D.C.
\<http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/silvics_manual/Table_of_contents.htm\>

Fernald, M.L. 1950. *Gray's manual of botany* (ed. 8). American Book
Company.

Furlow, J.J. 1993. *Betula*. Pp. 516-530, IN: *Flora of North America*,
*north of Mexico*. Vol. 3. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, New York.
\<http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/Flora/flora.pl?FLORA_ID=12395\>

Sullivan, J. 1994. *Betula alleghaniensis*. IN: W.C. Fischer (compiler).
*The fire effects information system* \[database\]. USDA, Forest
Service, Intermountain Research Station, Intermountain Fire Sciences
Laboratory, Missoula, Montana. \<http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/\>.

### Prepared By

*Guy Nesom*

BONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

### Species Coordinator

## *Lincoln Moore*

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

Edited: 17jan01 jsp;10feb03ahv; 31may06 jsp

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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