Tree Talk: Sweet Birch

We're sweet for Betula lenta! Also known as sweet birch, black birch, cherry birch, and mahogany birch, this tree was historically important for production of wintergreen oil from its buds and young stems. Its fragrance deters deer as much as it delights humans, resulting in its potential to dominate forest midstories in stands that have too many deer, no periodic fire, and a legacy of unscientific timber management. Though looked down upon for its propensity to replace oaks in forests that have those conditions, sweet birch is valuable in its own right. The tree is an important host plant for many moth caterpillars and can produce valuable timber with dark wood (hence the moniker black birch).
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Recorded on 12/5/21 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by Allyson "sweet birch" Wells.

[@outdoorinfluencer]

Great video 👍

[@jonalohr]

Glad to see Newt making a cameo again!

[@forestsforthebay4784]

Back by popular demand!!

[@markjones5561]

Can't get enough Newt :)

[@LittleCabin]

Smells wonderful when cutting! We have plenty of sweet birch trees on our SW Virginia property.

[@ssgg23]

So cool, looks so different from other birch trees!

[@stevemurray6543]

Thank you for your videos and presentations. Much appreciated.

[@Roadie45]

I’m finding a lot of sweet birch and rock oak on the ridge line behind my house. My favorite spot to cut wood because the ground is nice and dry!

[@jetv1471]

“ Look !I found a stick !” 😂❤

[@calebcothron3556]

I've heard it most referred to as black birch. I treated a ton of sweet birch in WV via hack-n-squirt for a forest service contract. I was pretty fond of the wintergreen smell everytime I hacked into one :)

[@outdoorinfluencer]

Can you do a video on cotton wood?

[@forestsforthebay4784]

Yes, if I come across one on a hike! They are rare in my usual stomping grounds of southeastern and central PA though.

[@jennypenny9999]

Your hair! Cool!

[@forestsforthebay4784]

Thanks, it's really growing on me!

[@CheeferSutherland]

@@forestsforthebay4784 if you decide to cut it, you should also consider donating it!! 🤗

[@davids7799]

Your videos are well presented. You have the best vocabulary!

[@markjones5561]

Wyn ra

[@davegoodwin1848]

I think I would easily confuse it with hickory due to the bark.

[@forestsforthebay4784]

I've got a tip for you! Most hickories have vertical ridges and furrows, with ridges that intersect in patterns that look like Xs and Ys. This can be hard to see on mature shagbark hickories, but their shagginess should really give them away; sweet birch can have some plates peeling off but nothing close to how "shaggy" the shagbark looks. Also, the horizontal lenticels are typically visible on sweet birch even when very large, and are absent on hickories.