''Betula populifolia'' (gray or grey birch) is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

native to eastern North America.

Range

It ranges from southeastern

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

east to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, and south to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, with disjunct populations in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. 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 Pioneer species are hardy species that are the first to colonize barren environments or previously biodiverse steady-state ecosystems that have been disrupted, such as by wildfire. Pioneer flora Some lichens grow on rocks without soil, so ...

on abandoned fields and burned areas. It is possibly

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Characteristics

Gray birch grows quickly to 20 to 30 feet (6.9 to 9.1 m) tall and 15 inch (38 cm) 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 (5-7 cm) long by 1.6 to 2.4 inches (4-6 cm) wide, alternately arranged, ovate, 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 most easily confused for the paper birch (''

Betula papyrifera ''Betula papyrifera'' (paper birch, also known as (American) white birch and canoe birch) is a short-lived species of birch native to northern North America. Paper birch is named for the tree's thin white bark, which often peels in paper like ...

'') by means of its bark; it is smooth and thin but does not readily exfoliate like paper birch does. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are wind-pollinated catkins 5–8 cm long, the male catkins pendulous and the female catkins erect. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

, maturing in autumn, is composed of many tiny winged seeds packed between the catkin bracts. The

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

is medium hard and is used for high grade plywood, furniture, drum shells, spools and firewood. Like other North American birches, gray birch is highly resistant to the bronze birch borer ('' Agrilus anxius''). The leaves of the gray birch serve as food for various Lepidoptera, such as the

leaf miner A leaf miner is any one of numerous species of insects in which the larval stage lives in, and eats, the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths ( Lepidoptera), sawflies ( Symphyta, the mother clade of wasp ...

moth '' Cameraria betulivora''. Between about 1930 and 1950, many gray birch trees, along with paper birch and

yellow birch ''Betula alleghaniensis'', the yellow birch, golden birch, or swamp birch, is a large tree and an important lumber species of birch native to northeastern North America. Its vernacular names refer to the golden color of the tree's bark. In the pa ...

(''Betula alleghaniensis''), were affected and killed by birch dieback disease. 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

Gallery

File:Betula populifolia leaves.jpg, ''Betula populifolia'' leaves, New Brunswick, Canada File:Betula populifolia bark.jpg, ''Betula populifolia'' bark, Vermont, US. Although the grey birch exhibits a smooth, thin white bark which can easily be confused with that of the paper birch (''Betula papyrifera),'' it does not readily exfoliate.

References

External links

University of Connecticut Plant Database

University of Florida Environmental Horticulture

Flora of North America, profile and map: ''B. populifolia''

VT Dendrology
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1543680 populifolia Trees of the United States Trees of Canada Trees of Eastern Canada Trees of the Northeastern United States Trees of the North-Central United States Flora of Massachusetts Trees of humid continental climate Trees of Ontario Trees of the Southeastern United States Flora of North America Trees of the Great Lakes region (North America)