Рет қаралды 5,844
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).
Want more goods from the woods? Subscribe to this channel, and our monthly newsletter at forestsforthebay.org/newsletter_signup.cfm ! Who are we, anyway? Forests for the Bay is an educational program of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Learn more at allianceforthebay.org.
Recorded on 12/5/21 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by Allyson "sweet birch" Wells.