RIVER BIRCH

YOUNG RIVER BIRCH, YELLOW, IN FRONT OF MAPLE, GOLDEN

EXFOLIATING WHITE BARK OF YOUNG RIVER BIRCH

Saturday, 11:00 AM.  51 degrees F at the ferry dock, 49 on the back porch.  Wind variable and light.  Sky overcast and foggy, and it is misting lightly. the humidity 91%.  The barometer is rising, now at 29.97", predicting rain on Monday, with clearing skies and low temperatures well above freezing.

   River birch, Betula nigra,  in the Haze Family (Corylaceae) is a medium to large tree native to the South and East Central US, in moist habitats such as river banks.  It can be a good street and park tree, grown with either single or multiple trunks.  It is much more resistant to borers that paper birch, and can be grown further south, and like other river bank trees, will withstand drier conditions. 

   River birch has a very decorative exfoliating bark when young, that has shades of pink and terra cotta along with white.  It has become a quite popular substitute for paper birch in landscaping, but its bark is only decorative when young, as with age it loses the colorful characteristics of its bark.  But, overall, it is a handsome and useful tree, but it does grow very large.

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