Birch, Sweet Birch: New England's Forest Birches

The story of the birch trees of New England, particularly those of the forest (black, white, and yellow birch). Bob Leverett, old growth forest expert, teaches us about old birch trees most people wouldn't recognize. Richard Higgins, a Thoreau researcher and author, offers commentary from Thoreau's point of view.
Some of the largest and oldest black (sweet) birches in the northeast US are found in western Massachusetts, on the Mt Tom and Holyoke ranges; gnarly yellow birches perch on boulders in Monroe State Forest.
Companion story at www.neforests.com
See our other videos on the New England Forests youtube channel.

[@harpandhoundmeditations3789]

Absolutely superb! Thanks so much for taking the time to record and post this. I’ll be going out in my woods tomorrow to look for black and yellow birches!

[@michaeldodd3563]

Birch trees have always held my attention. The black birch wintergreen scent reminds me of childhood.

[@danawrigleywalkingstickand5677]

Great film. I especially liked the part about yellow birch, as they are my absolute favorite tree. I make walking sticks and canes as a hobby and find there is nothing prettier than a piece of finished yellow birch. They also seem to be very strong for their weight.

[@jareddesrochers7885]

Thanks for this, was probably misidentifying at least some older black birches as black cherry here in upstate NY. Those were some very good details and images on the bark progression and tree size. Did not know the change was that dramatic, or that they could be that large.

[@jamesrouillardjas1671]

Thanks for this comprehensive view of New England birches. Very informative.

[@warshipsatin8764]

i was always fascinated as a kid with the smell of birch and sassafras

[@judyengland2615]

This has to be the fourth time I've watched this film. I learn more each time.

[@peterguercio9504]

These videos are 100% awesome. My son tapped some birch trees this spring for the water, it was delicious. Can't let it sit though, goes south flavor wise quickly unless kept cold.

[@RobMutch]

Fantastic series of videos. Love forest ecology.

[@richardbarry04553]

I sure do miss those eastern hardwood forests - having been out here in southern California for the last five years now. I spent the previous 42 years of my life in the woods of New England before that. Maybe some day I’ll get back there - only God knows.

[@markcummings6856]

Just fascinating. Thanks so much for sharing.

[@AkwaAzeemBey]

Brilliant video, Gratitude!

[@dalefluke6472]

Ray, thank you so much. Every time I watch one of NEForests films it makes me want to go there and see it all for myself. Pursuant to that I have been taking notes in my Google maps of the places to visit and what to look for. Can't wait to get there!

[@brittongodman7769]

When I was a kid, Birch Beer soda was my Grandmother's favorite.That was back when the flavoring was real. Strange to realize that the one very old Black Birch we saw was possibly a seedling when our Declaration was written and signed.

[@mrwess1927]

Imagine what tree will look like if you plant today. Planning

[@richtomlinson7090]

Best time to plant a tree is 250 years ago, second best time is now.

[@bobbg9041]

Thats ok there are trees older then when Noah took his boat to save humanity and animals of the world. The giant redwoods are said to have been seedlings 2k years ago. THIS nation is an infant compared to its natural resources like wood. The old growth forest were 1000s of years old, and cut down for profit. The new timbers are not as good in Many species as climents changed.

[@bobbg9041]

@@richtomlinson7090 Best time depends on what type of tree and where, aside from the fact anytime is a good time to plant a tree.

[@patkeeg1]

A fantastic video!! Thank you all for putting this together. I wrote my notes and trying to learn. Watched it twice and I know I'll watch it again.

[@NewEnglandForests]

Pat, thank you for watching, and commenting. It's rewarding to know these films are helping people enjoy the forest. -Ray

[@tagladyify]

So much for us to learn and relearn. It’s wonderful to find someone offering it up.

[@lindakautzman7388]

AWESOME. Thank you 😊

[@danthomas6587]

B lenta was always my favorite while in horticulture school.

[@ebinmaine]

A day in the forest perhaps hiking uphill or exploring + a twig of yellow birch to chew = a great day.

[@PatchworkFarmRetreat]

Terrific video. Love anything Bob Leverett is passionate about.

[@abydosianchulac2]

I wish you'd found more material for _papyrifera_ on your walks - those are my favorite - but these trees you all found are incredible.

[@Charilizard]

There's actually a yellow birch of comparable size as the biggest in this video near where I live, Its so majestic, though it branches early so it may not have the awesome height of the ones in this video. Never imagined black birch could get that big as well!

[@nativenygardens187]

Great video, happy someone covered this subject!

[@christopherfitch7705]

Nice film on the birches now I want to see all your films

[@CyhAnide]

We had to take down a couple of red oaks that were way too close to the house in our backyard, and some birch-ish looking saplings just kinda exploded out into the new sunspot they left behind. I was just wandering the internet, curious to learn what the new saplings might actually be, and stumbled across this excellent video. I had no idea that birch trees could even get that big! Very cool!

[@jasonm1884]

This was very helpful and informative for me. THANK YOU!!!

[@ericwanderweg8525]

I feel lucky to have a large-ish yellow birch along my property line, about 20” DBH. Up until 2 years ago there was a second one 26” which I had to cut down unfortunately, due to the base being rotted and the tree threatening my house. I appreciate its shade in the summer and general stature year-round. The tree complements the large red oaks, tulip poplars and hickories back there very well. They’re all small remnants of a forest that was left alone since around the turn of the last century.

[@debradaugherty8287]

I'm in the process of clearing a common buckthorn and bush honeysuckle "woodland," and I discovered that in the middle of that woodland, there's a massive Black Birch! Not sure how old it is, but the bark is peeling, so it's old. Anyway, I had been wondering how this area would transform after I clear it and now I'm excited to see whether the surrounding cleared area starts to produce Black Birch seedlings. It would be so awesome to see this area transform into a forest of Birch. Thanks so much for this informative/inspiring video!

[@svendb7]

Wow those are niiiiiice. I’m gonna make sure I let mine grow!

[@jackprier7727]

Popsicle/ice cream sticks taste so good from the slight wintergreen of being made from black birch-

[@andyshelly3473]

thank you so very much .

[@markdms321]

Thank you Bob! Great video,Very informative!

[@nicolasforestell3563]

Last month I came across a very old Yellow Birch on Mount Sunapee. It was not tall, but very wide and the bark bore not a sliver of resemblance to the bark of young Yellow Birches. In fact, it looked older than most of the mature Yellow Birches in the video. I wonder how old it was?

[@sectorjt]

Where About was this? I found a decent old yellow birch on bald mountain in goshen

[@nicktozie6685]

Damn,I love trees

[@Convolutedtear]

This. Is. Amazing. Thanks so much

[@petekingfish]

Great info, I grew up on Mt Tom and never knew these were birch

[@NewEnglandForests]

Pete, Few people would recognize those old black birches for what they are. One of them on Mt Tom, only 22 inches in diameter, has been dated to about 270 years old. You wouldn't look twice at it as you pass by it.

[@mrznjaci]

Even though I don't live anywhere near North America, this video explain me why in my city birches and plane trees reproduce only on piles of rubble, cracks in walls etc.

[@witness033]

I did not realize the size and age potential of the black birch! The yellow birch has always been my favorite as well.

[@megayetivsminigreatwhitex6194]

i'm sad that a nearing 200 year old one in the woods behind my house got killed by the awful drought last year :(

[@megayetivsminigreatwhitex6194]

it has really platy peeled off bark

[@alizacooper2937]

Wow, thanks for sharing!

[@NewEnglandForests]

.... and thank YOU for watching! -Ray

[@traceypistorio9660]

Thanks for the great vid.

[@NewEnglandForests]

Hi Tracey, glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for watching.

[@giovannibosco8872]

Wonderfully educational and inspiring video. Thank you! You refer to Betula lenta as "black" birch, but I have also seen Betula nigra called "black" birch. Can you clarify the difference between the two, which grows where, and whether these truly are different species?

[@NewEnglandForests]

"Black birch" is, as you know, a common name rather than the unique scientific name for a given species. And you've highlighted the problem with common names... the same name can apply to more than one species. You're right, Betula nigra and B. lenta are both known as "black birch". B. lenta is also known as "sweet birch", "cherry birch", and, in the southern Appalachians, as "mountain mahogany". In the film, we used "black birch" for B. lenta, and "river birch" for B. nigra; most people in the region seem to know these trees by their common names more so than their scientific names. And, I'm guilty of preferring common names over scientific, because I find them easier to remember. But yes, the two trees (B. lenta and B. nigra) are different species. B. lenta is more of an upland species, and B. nigra tends to be found near water (eg, river floodplains).

[@michaeljones7372]

Thank you, phenomenal video, information and production, thank you , good stuff!

[@NewEnglandForests]

Hi Michael, thanks for watching and commenting. If you appreciated this one, you'll probably really enjoy "The Lost Forests of New England", which will be finished soon. It's the story of New England old growth forests. Ray

[@michaeljones7372]

New England Forests I love the work you all are doing, I'm sure I will definitely enjoy that, I can't wait, these are the things that interest me the most, amazing these videos have so few views, I've enjoyed all the videos greatly, especially the tallest tree in New England video.

[@JackBrunelle]

We have a black birch along a rock wall of our farm that's right around 200 years old

[@Sk8rboy420]

I live in Maine and struggle with tree identification. if you have any resources or videos specific to Maine forestry / tree identification, please share links with me. Thank you for your very informative videos on both birch and maple trees :)

[@ebinmaine]

Bob get ahold of the Maine State Forest Service. They have great resources for us.

[@Immortalthrone666]

Have you ever seen the book Forest Trees of Maine? It’s free online, and it’s very helpful! www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/publications/handbooks_guides/forest_trees/pdf/Forest_Trees_of_Maine.pdf

[@silviacassano1836]

Very good! Thank you!

[@christopherfitch7705]

Wow I've never seen black birch this big. Decent firewood tree I like the wintergreen scent . Chopped up some twigs put in a jar with vodka strong tincture

[@gwheyduke]

'Overstory" good book about a 500 year old super hero that doesn't move

[@jamesalanstephensmith7930]

Informative!

[@WollongongWacko]

Great video

[@Tipi_Dan]

Remarkable.

[@aman4peace]

I come along many times where My father had a woodlot and never thought that would be a black birch I been seeing

[@NAHM1AS]

Awesome

[@chuck1prillaman]

Shall I spend today in the woods or on the internet?

[@seanrodgers1839]

I never knew birches got that big. In my area they never grow big even ones I have seen for 50 years.

[@wildhumans8116]

Sasquatch territory for sure

[@moonmunster]

It looks like black birch likes to grow near hemlocks.

[@NewEnglandForests]

Yes, it does, but not exclusively.. it's doing quite well replacing that and other species that are dying off, or have been otherwise removed.

[@IsleOfFeldspar]

Many of my sweet birch have a disease that creates dead areas beneath the bark.

[@bobbg9041]

Glory age of a tree and all that, but becuse of import cost Baltic birch plywood cost nearly 100 dollars a 4x8 sheet the price varies my point is we could grow a birch forest for commercial use plywood production, now selecting the proper species of birch thats both fast growing has long trunks and few defects or a combination of birch species to make a superior product in the USA under the right conditions. The forest could be between 20 to 80 years old and we wouldn't have to relay on imported products. Baltic birch is prized for its qulity I strongly belive we could match this in northern America and produce the properties and conditions these trees were raised under.

[@samuelpaulini]

Why does silver and black birch differ so much in terms of lifespan?

[@NewEnglandForests]

By “silver” birch I assume you’re referring to yellow birch, Betula alleghaniensis. The oldest known so far was 387 years (ring count, Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada); the oldest black birch (B. lenta) was 361 (cross-dated, New Paltz, NY), so they’re close in maximum lifespan, and I don’t think of them as being significantly different in terms of longevity, although yellow might possibly be a bit longer-lived on average. -Ray

[@samuelpaulini]

@@NewEnglandForests, oh I didn't know that. Interesting. I was referring to the Betula pendula. I know they can be +-120 years in rare cases, but they mainly live up to 70 and behave like a pioneer species. I was wondering what made them diverge to take these quite different strategies in Eurasia and America.

[@NewEnglandForests]

Ok, different tree. I’ve seen European birches planted here and there in New England, but I don’t really know much about them. One thing to keep in mind though is that many of the statistics we find on the web for tree heights and ages are understated, probably because there’s so little old growth forest left that we’ve lost the memory of what trees are capable of. Eg, many references would have you believe that B. lenta (black birch) grows to anywhere from 40 to 78 feet. But we’re finding them quite often well over 90’, and even over 100’. So, remain skeptical about quoted maximum ages and heights.

[@raynottingham2163]

They. Make pretty lumber. An good. Fire wood. No market. For them here in. Wv.

[@curtiseagleeyemullin]

I was a bit disappointed that there was no Henry David Thoreau poem at the very end for us to read... Go team Earth! We can increase our argument and zoning for protected areas on the basis that mechanical noise (sound) is a physical force which violates sentient beings living in the natural world, such as songbirds. And let’s not forget about bird droppings... 🕊 Bird Droppings: Bird populations are also a beacon of health worth considering in forestry management, especially for old growth habitats. This is because "bird droppings help fertilize forest floors which provide unique conditions for specific fungal growth and other microbial / hexapod invertebrate (insect) activity that forest biodiversities depend on; this in turn contributes to vital forest root nutrients": newlemurians.wordpress.com/2017/11/28/peace-its-not-what-they-told-us/

[@NewEnglandForests]

Curtis- A Thoreau poem at the end? Oh-- then you want to watch "The Lost Forests of New England" :) Bird droppings? Yes, I suppose they are a good fertilizer source. On the downside, in forests that are too heavily cut (and other open places), they also spread seeds of non-native, invasive species. Few things in life are only good or only bad.

[@curtiseagleeyemullin]

New England Forests, true. But I suspect that nature has it set up that way for a reason. I will check out that documentary! Thanks! 🌳

[@stanlee2200]

arent all trees forest dwellers?

[@NewEnglandForests]

No... ornamental hybrids, for example, are not.

[@stanlee2200]

@@NewEnglandForests im learning alot on this channel...i never knew there wqere so many kinds...its amazing i really cant see the forest for the trees lol