Tree Talk: White Birch

We found a stand of mature white birch, Betula papyrifera, in the mountains of northern Pennsylvania! An iconic species of New England, the Great Lakes states, and Canada, white birch (also called paper birch or canoe birch) is treasured for its distinctive bark. White birch is short-lived and highly dependent on disturbance for regeneration.
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Recorded on 6/3/21 in Marion Brooks Natural Area, the Quehanna Wilds, by Allyson "canoe skin" Wells.

[@mikaelfagerang7624]

Greeting from Sweden and a country of real big amount of birch trees even big ones 🌳

[@RyoBoss-bt2mk]

💯

[@pastramichop]

Hell yeah more tree talk

[@forestsforthebay4784]

=D Thanks Don! We'll keep trying to churn them out at least once a month until we run out of plants to talk about!

[@chrisanddaniel100]

These vids are awesome, keep them coming ryan!

[@Bsdel]

I love this series so much

[@raphlvlogs271]

birch trees can store a lot of water in their trunks too.

[@tonymassara4018]

One thing every scout knows is that the bark is an excellent fire starter because of the natural oils in it.

[@forestsforthebay4784]

That's a great tip! I (Ryan) was a Boy Scout in the southeast, where pine needles were our go-to

[@tonymassara4018]

@@forestsforthebay4784 I've heard that White Birch bark will light even when wet--good to know in a survival situation.

[@ericwanderweg8525]

Looks like you’re definitely in a higher elevation forest as evidenced by the spruce tree behind you too.

[@skipsp]

Grew wild in the column dumps in the Scranton area. Seemed to be the only tree of abundance in the coal mine waste.

[@forestsforthebay4784]

I see a ton up there too! I'm originally from Nanticoke actually, so white birch reminds me of home (as do legacy signs of coal mining)

[@myagrimm4719]

I didn't know the lenticels were for gas exchange, that makes sense since they can photosynthesize through their bark. Beech can also photosynthesize through their bark, do you know why beech don't have such pronounced lenticels?
I just learned about birch being able to photosynthesize through their bark today, I was initially surprised that white birch could do that since I'd expect them to reflect quite a bit of light rather than absorb it. Turns out they do reflect most of the sunlight - it's an adaptation so that they don't get scorched by the sun since they grow in open areas

[@forestsforthebay4784]

I'm not certain why beech lenticels are small, but my guess would be that it has to do with growth rate. Beech grows pretty slowly, so it likely isn't as "thirsty" for CO2. Just a guess though!
And cool, interesting fact about the adaptive value of the bark color for white birch!

[@personwhoexists4491]

Love these videos. Do you know of any books containing this type of information?

[@forestsforthebay4784]

Thanks! And yes, there are many! My personal favorites are "North American Trees" by Preston and Braham (Dr. Braham was my college dendrology professor, so I am a bit biased but it is an excellent source for detailed yet concise accounts for all major North American tree species), and "A Natural History of North American Trees" by Donald Culross Peattie (which has poetic, loving accounts of many important species which include interesting snippets about cultural and commercial uses from the past)

[@kfHoopz]

Where is this

[@forestsforthebay4784]

Marion Brooks Natural Area, in the Quehanna Wilds