The Japanese monarch birch (B. maximowicziana) is a valuable timber tree … What you are smelling or tasting is oil of wintergreen*, which is present in the inner bark in each of these species (although typically to a greater degree in Black than in Yellow Birch). Both have a 1290 rating on the Janka Hardness scale. About three dozen twigs, and the peelings from those twigs, is a good amount. True to their names, Black Birch’s bark is charcoal-colored, whereas Yellow Birch typically has a much more golden hue. Many types of birch grow in clumps of two to four closely spaced separate trunks. I advise you against trying to brew this the traditional, way, though (i.e., pouring boiling water from the tea kettle over the birch twigs to steep them). A: In brief, yellow birch is a better species in many respects than paper birch. The sap from paper birch trees is more concentrated than the sap from other species of birch trees (such as yellow birch and black birch). The reason is that oil of wintergreen is volatile (easily driven off by heat), so if you attempt to make tea with boiling or very hot water, your kitchen will smell great but there is likely to be little if any flavor left in your tea cup. Native to eastern Canada and the eastern US. Younger yellow birch were easily identified, but the the old and large yellow birch have a distinctive black bark and loses much of it’s younger looks. Birch trees are sometimes confused with beech and alder trees. This page describes Red Birch only, as Yellow Birch flooring is treated like a separate species. (A carrot peeler works well to peel the twigs, but if you haven’t got one, a sturdy pocket knife should do the trick.) Yellow Birch … Birch Leaf Turning Yellow in Summer. Fewer than 100,000 yellow birch seedlings were produced in 1968 for reforestation purposes. The black birch is arguably among the top desirable firewood choices of all wood types. Birches also have bark that more readily layers into segments; alder bark is fairly smooth and uniform. Its usually very flaky multi colored bark. It is fun to simply chew on a Black or Yellow Birch twig and enjoy its flavor while walking in the woods, or while cross-country skiing or snowshoeing, for that matter — the oil of wintergreen is present year-round. Black Walnut Grown in the Eastern U.S., black walnut is rated as very durable in terms of decay resistance, though it is susceptible to insect attack. Gray birch, (Betula populifolia), slender ornamental tree of the family Betulaceae, found in clusters on moist sites in northeastern North America. Birch is not widely produced in this coun­ try for reforestation. Alders, from the family Alnus, are very similar to the birch; the principal distinguishing feature is that alders have catkins that are woody and do not disintegrate in the way that birch catkins do. "River" birch is called so because, in its native habitat, it is often found growing near rivers. Very popular and considered a premium domestic hardwood in the U.S. An expensive wood. Inspect it every 2 weeks or so, after burning about 6 weeks, clean it & see how much creosote you get. Another difference is that Black Birch bark tends to be smooth (except on older specimens), whereas Yellow Birch’s bark flakes and peels in fine horizontal strips. Higher grades or stricter QC on export batches seems likely, since the product got far more love and respect among foreign users than within the USSR itself. Unfortunately, though, birch sap is even waterier than maple sap (100:1 sap-to-sugar ratio vs. 40:1), and you have to boil the heck out of it to get anything. The twigs are aromatic, but not to compare with the black birch. Exceptionally hardy, paper birch performs best in cool northern climates where root zones are often covered with snow in the winter and does poorly in heat and … Birch species are generally small- or medium-sized trees or large shrubs, mostly found in northern temperate climates in Asia, Europe, and North America. The simple leaves may be toothed or pointed with serrated edges, and the fruit is a small samara—a small seed with papery wings. This lead many people to believe that “Black birch” was actually a separate species of birch. Efforts to cross the black birch and yellow birch have been successful, though the hybrid generation has low vigor and low seed germination … Walter Chandoha; Gray birch, paper birch, river birch, sweet birch, yellow birch, and white birch are the best known; white birch is usually called silver birch in England, but the latter name is also sometimes given to paper birch and to yellow birch. The yellow birch is one of our most valuable timber trees and makes excel-lent firewood. Black birch is a native species to the Appalachian region of the United States. Some birch trees such as the black birch and the yellow birch have twigs that give off a wintergreen aroma when you break them. © t.e.l.l. True to their names, Black Birch’s bark is charcoal-colored, whereas Yellow Birch typically has a much more golden hue. About 125,000 river birch and 116,000 European white To differentiate the two, the range, buds, or bark must be examined. The Tree is a deciduous tree, it will be up to 25 m (82 ft) high. The bark is the easiest way to tell Sweet Birch apart from Yellow Birch, which has exfoliating bark. Types of Birch Wood White Birch vs Yellow Birch vs Black Birch. Birch, Yellow 1260 Cherry, Domestic Black 950 Bloodwood 3300 Imbuia 950 Bocote 2200 Maple, Soft 999 Brazilian Tiger Mahogany 3840 Teak, Plantation 1000 Brushbox, Northern 2045 Cherry, Africa, Makore 1010 Bubinga 1980 Ash, Victorian 1010 Butternut 490 Walnut, Domestic Black 1010 Camaru (Brazilian Teak) 3540 … Because in all beech species the leaves and catkins are similar and they all have very much the same foliage color, the main way to distinguish the species is by close examination of the bark.Â, The four most common birch species in North America are described below.Â, Characteristics of North American Birch Trees, The Most Common North American Hardwood Trees, How to Identify Common North American Trees. sirbuildalot, Oct 12, 2020 #8 Top. 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