Other common names:
Canoe Birch, Paper Birch French names:
Bouleau à papier Family: Birch Family (Betulaceae) Group: Birches Distinctive features: Tree Similar species: European White Birch (Betula pendula) - Branches are "weeping" (hanging down. Gray Birch (Betula populifolia) - A small tree; only in extreme eastern Ontario. Leaves: Alternate, Simple, Toothed Bark:
Papery, white and peeling laterally. Habitat: Forests Books: Trees in Canada: 284 Native/Non-native:
Native Photographs:
384 photographs available, of which 19 are featured on this page. SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOGRAPHS.
Range Map is at the bottom of the page
White Birch is best known for its peeling white bark.
A fragment of White Birch bark.
White Birch trunk.
The bark of younger trees can be a little bit yellowish. It can be distinguished from Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis) by the larger peeling sheets.
A nice set of three White Birch trunks.
Closeup of the bark.
White Birch flowers, in mid-May.
Flower buds in early April.
White Birch leaf buds.
Typical White Birch leaf.
A few small White Birch trees in winter.
Shape and form of a young White Birch tree.
The white bark of White Birch does not rot very quickly. You will often find just the bark remaining on a rotted fallen tree trunk.
Sapsucker holes in White Birch bark.
White Birch sap flowing out of a wound and freezing in the winter cold.
PLEASE NOTE: A coloured Province or State means this species occurs somewhere in that Province/State.
The entire Province/State is coloured, regardless of where in that Province/State it occurs.
(Range map provided courtesy of the USDA website
and is displayed here in accordance with their
Policies)