Product Code Database
Betula lenta ( sweet birch, also known as black birch, cherry birch, mahogany birch, or spice birch) is a species of birch native to eastern North America.
In older tree specimens the bark (unlike the more commonly known birches) develops vertical cracks into irregular scaly plates revealing rough dark brown bark patterns. This, however, only occurs in mature, or ancient, trees and these specimens are not often identified by the public as B. lenta due to the difference between the tree's smooth young bark (which the public is most familiar with) and the tree's rough, cracked and plated mature bark. The twigs, when scraped, have a strong scent of wintergreen due to methyl salicylate, which is produced in the bark.
The leaf are alternate, ovate, long and broad, with a finely serrated margin. (2025). 9781402767159, Sterling. ISBN 9781402767159 The are Anemophily long, the male catkins pendulous, the female catkins erect. The fruit, maturing in fall, is composed of numerous tiny winged packed between the catkin bracts. Seed production mainly occurs in trees that are between 40 and 200 years old, although light crops may occur as early as 15 years and as long as the tree lives.
Black birch seeds at a prolific rate and quickly colonizes disturbed areas. In the Northeastern US in the 1980s, infestations of , Hemlock woolly adelgid, and Discula destructiva killed many trees, and their place was taken by black birch.
Deer do not tend to browse young B. lenta allowing trees to grow in areas with high deer populations, Betula alleghaniensis, a close relative of B. lenta, is, however, heavily browsed by deer. This accounts for a lack of B. alleghaniensis and an abundance of B. lenta where deer populations are high. In abandoned fields, B. lenta is often thicket forming and protects trees not resistant to deer browsing.
The Plant sap flows about a month later than maple sap, and much faster. The trees can be tapped in a similar fashion, but must be gathered about three times more often. Birch sap can be boiled the same as maple sap, but its syrup is stronger (like molasses). It can be used to make birch beer. Boiling also destroys volatile quantities of wintergreen oil.
The inner bark can be eaten raw as an emergency food. The twigs and inner bark can be steeped to make tea.
Black birch was once harvested extensively to produce oil of wintergreen, the tree was borderline endangered until the 1950s-60s when synthetic oil of wintergreen appeared.
|
|
