Betula papyrifera
Betulaceae subfam. betuloideae
bouleau blanc, bouleau à papier, canoe birch, paper birch, western paper birch, white birch
of young trunks and branches dark reddish brown, smooth, in maturity creamy to chalky white or pale to (infrequently) dark brown, readily exfoliating in paper-thin sheets;
lenticels pale, horizontal, in maturity dark, much expanded, horizontal.
thin, close or exfoliating in thin sheets, becoming thicker and frequently furrowed or broken in age;
lenticels often present, prominent, sometimes becoming greatly expanded horizontally.;
bark and wood strongly tanniferous.
without strong odor and taste of wintergreen, slightly to moderately pubescent, infrequently with scattered, small, resinous glands.
blade ovate with 9 or fewer pairs of lateral veins, 5–9(–12) × 4–7 cm, base rounded, cuneate, or truncate, margins sharply to coarsely or irregularly doubly serrate or serrate-dentate, apex acute to short-acuminate;
surfaces abaxially sparsely to moderately pubescent, often velutinous along major veins and in vein axils, covered with minute, resinous glands.
3-ranked, occasionally nearly 2-ranked.
perianth of 4(–6) sepals, well defined, minute, membranaceous.
2–3 per scale, scales arranged in conelike catkins;
perianth not obvious;
ovules with 1 integument.
pendulous, cylindric, 2.5–5 × 0.6–1.2 cm, readily shattering with fruits in late fall;
scales pubescent to glabrous, lobes diverging at or proximal to middle, central lobe narrowly elongate, obtuse, lateral lobes about equal in length to central lobe but several times broader, strongly divergent, held nearly at right angles to axis.
1–4 cm, conelike, composed of many scales;
scales either persistent or deciduous with fruits, crowded, small, woody or leathery.
tiny samaras, lateral wings 2, membranous, sometimes reduced to ridges;
pericarp thin, leathery.
with wings as broad as or slightly broader than body, extended nearly beyond body apically.
and branches terete.
twigs and buds often covered with small to large, resinous glands;
pith triangular in cross section.
= 56, 70, 84.
Betula papyrifera
Betulaceae subfam. betuloideae
Betula papyrifera is a well-known tree of the northern forest with its paper-thin, white, peeling bark. The bark, which has a high oil content and is consequently waterproof, was used for a wide variety of building and clothing purposes by the American Indians, including the covering of the familiar birch bark canoe. It is still used for various purposes, including basketmaking, in Canada and Alaska. Variants having more or less close, dark brown bark (B. papyrifera var. commutata) occur locally throughout the wide range of this species; this characteristic appears to be largely environmentally caused. The species is an important successional tree, coming up readily after fires, logging, or the abandonment of cultivated land. The relatively soft, whitish wood is used extensively for such items as clothespins, spools, ice cream sticks, and toothpicks, as well as for pulpwood for paper.
Betula papyrifera is the state tree of New Hampshire.
Native Americans use Betula papyrifera medicinally in enemas, to shrivel the womb, to alleviate stomach cramps and pain, and as a tonic (D. E. Moerman 1986).
Betula ×sandbergii Britton is a fairly common hybrid, occurring where the ranges of the parents (B. papyrifera Marshall and B. pumila Linnaeus) come into contact. In most vegetative features it is intermediate between the parental conditions (K. E. Clausen 1963; C. O. Rosendahl 1928).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Genera 2, species 60 (2 genera, 26 species in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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