Black Birch

The black birch is the most tricky of all the birch to identify. For one thing it has a very close look-a-like in its younger years. Then, as the sweet birch matures, it begins to no longer look like a birch tree. This birch is also known as the sugar birch here in Vermont, as this is the main tree used for obtaining birch sap.

Name

The scientific name of this tree is Betula lenta. The birches make up the genus of Betula. This is in the family of Betulaceae, which also encompasses the poplar, alders, hazels, and hornbeams.

• Betulaceae – Birches, Poplar, Alders, Hazels, and Hornbeams
  • Betula – Birches
    • lenta – Black Birch

The common names for Betula lenta are as follows:

• Black birch – named for the color of the younger tree’s bark.
• Sweet birch – named for the sweet wintergreen smell of the twigs.
• Cherry birch – named due to the resemblance of a look-a-like species, the cherry tree.
• Sugar birch – named because this is the birch species used for sap production.

Range and Habitat

The sweet birch is native to eastern North America. Its range starts from southern Maine and Quebec to Eastern Ontario. It then proceeds south down to Delaware and east to Ohio. In the Appalachian mountains the black birch can be found as far south as northern Georgia.

The black birch seeds itself prolifically and quickly colonizes recently disturbed areas. It is found everywhere throughout its range.

Identifying Characteristics

The black birch can be identified using the following key characteristics for I.D.

• The leaves of Betula lenta are finely serrated, 1-6 inches long, oval in shape, and alternate.
• Produces catkins between the months of April and May.
• The twigs and buds are hairless, and when the twigs are scraped they smell of wintergreen as the bark contains methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen).
• The bark is very dark/black when the tree is young, and when it peels it reveals a reddish/brownish color.
• As the tree matures, the bark changes remarkably. It turns gray, and begins to separate into vertically oriented scales, no longer peeling horizontally.
• In the spring, the sugar birch is very regularly seen oozing out sap from its bark.
• The mature tree is tall and straight, with an average height of around 60 feet, and a maximum height of 80 feet. The tree has a diameter of 2-3 feet.

Look-A-Likes of the Black Birch

There is one main look-a-like for Betula lenta, the Cherry tree. When young, the black birch can look very similar to a young cherry. A key identifier here is the distinct winter green smell produced by freshly crushed twigs of the sweet birch, cherry trees lack this smell. Another key identifier is the horizontally peeling bark still present on the young birch trees – this does not occur in cherry trees.

Betula lenta Photo Gallery

The best way to familiarize yourself with any tree is to look at pictures. This is because trees often look very different due to seasonal changes and the different stages of their life.

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