Gray Birch
Betula populifolia
Summary 6
Betula populifolia (gray or grey birch) is a deciduous tree native to eastern North America. It ranges from southeastern Ontario east to Nova Scotia, and south to Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It prefers poor, dry upland soils, but is also found in moist mixed woodlands. Living only about 30 years, it is a common pioneer species on abandoned fields and burned areas.
Gray birch grows quickly to 20 to 30 feet tall and 15 inch trunk diameter, with an irregular open crown of slender branches. The tree often has multiple trunks branching off an old stump. The leaves are 2 to 2.7 inches long by 1.6 to 2.4 inches wide, alternately arranged, ovate, but with a relatively flat leaf base and tapering to an elongated tip. They are dark green and glabrous above and paler below, with a coarsely serrated margin. The bark is chalky to grayish white with black triangular patches where branch meets trunk. It is easily confused with paper birch (Betula papyrifera) because of its bark; it is smooth and thin but does not readily exfoliate like paper birch does. It's also similar to the Silver Birch (Weeping Birch), which is native in Europe, but planted widely in Northeastern America.
Gray birch has been commonly planted as a landscaping tree in southern Pennsylvania and New Jersey as it tolerates heat and humidity better than paper birch and is more resistant to bronze birch borers and leaf miners.
Sources and Credits
- (c) cgbb2004, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by cgbb2004
- (c) Homer Edward Price, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/28340342@N08/20702848143/
- no rights reserved, uploaded by John Dziak
- (c) Nicholas_T, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholas_t/8674296706/
- (c) Owen Clarkin, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Owen Clarkin
- Adapted by Tom Pollard from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betula_populifolia
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
- NBN Atlas
- Ontario Trees
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- VASCAN by Canadensys
- World Flora Online
