Summary ⁶

Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch, also known as golden birch), is a large and important lumber species of birch native to North-eastern North America. The name "yellow birch" reflects the color of the tree's bark.

Betula alleghaniensis is a medium-sized, typically single-stemmed, deciduous tree reaching 60–80 feet tall with a trunk typically 2–3 ft in diameter, making it the largest North American species of birch. The bark on mature trees is a shiny yellow-bronze which flakes and peels in fine horizontal strips. The bark often has small black marks and dark horizontal lenticels The twigs, when scraped, have a slight scent of wintergreen oil, though not as strongly so as the related sweet birch (B. lenta)

Yellow birch is long-lived, typically 150 years and some old growth forest specimens may last for 300 years. B. alleghaniensis is the provincial tree of Quebec, where it is commonly called merisier, a name which in France is used for the wild cherry.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Tom Norton, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Tom Norton
2. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://eol.org/media/8778415
3. (c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Douglas Goldman
4. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://eol.org/media/8778416
5. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://eol.org/media/8778414
6. Adapted by Tom Pollard from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betula_alleghaniensis

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• Go Botany
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online

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