American White Birch State Tree of New Hampshire

The State tree of New Hampshire is the American White Birch (Betula papyrifera). White birch is also known as paper birch, canoe birch, and silver birch. White birch is known to hybridize in the wild with all other birches, and today, there are many varieties, not all of which have been named. White birch grows throughout the northern half of the United States. White birch is considered hardy in Zones 2 through 6.

White birch demands full sun conditions. Trees can have a single trunk or multiple trunks. A mature birch can reach 80 feet in height and 1 foot in diameter. Older trees may have greater diameters. The typical canopy spread is 20 to 35 feet. The typical life span is 60 to 70 years. Some trees growing in the wild have been found at 140 years old. White birch grows well in a variety of soil types from gravel to boggy sphagnum, but the trees are best grown in the deep, well-drained sandy soils of moraines and glacial till.

White birch is a popular landscape tree. Often, three trees are planted in a cluster. The summer leaves are not spectacular, being two shades of green with the lighter shade on the underside. In the autumn, the leaves turn a clear, bright yellow that is considered a feature. The bark is the more notable feature, as it turns white and black with age and peels away from the trunk in strips to reveal the layer which is usually an orange shade. It is a good selection for a specimen planting in an island, away from competing trees and other vegetation, in a residential landscape, a park, or other open green area. Planting near a walkway allows appreciation of the paper-like bark.
White birch produces lots of seeds. The trees are monoecious, having both the male and female flowers on the same tree.

Though the trees are not easily grown from seed, white birch is widely available in the trade either in containers or ball and burlap. The trees are relatively easy to transplant successfully. They are not heat tolerant and do not stand up well to urban pollution.

White birch is harvested for commercial purposes. The wood is used as veneer and plywood. Milled lumber is used in furniture where is it popular because it is easy to cut and stain. The residual wood chips from cutting white birch are used in the manufacture of paper.

White birch is not a reliable or early choice food source for larger animals. When other foods are unavailable, deer and moose will eat the leaves, especially during the autumn. Beavers will eat the wood if preferred trees are not nearby. Rabbits will eat seedling trees. The seeds, buds, and catkins are eaten by birds including redpolls, siskins, chickadees, and grouse. The sap is a dietary source for sapsuckers, hummingbirds, and red squirrels.

White birch is a nesting site for woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, and swallows who live in holes and other cavities in the tree.

Following wildfires, white birch is one of the first trees to reappear. Managed re-forestation uses white birch to reclaim old mining sites.

There are historical and culinary uses for the bark and sap from white birch. The branches will bend but not easily break under pressure and were used by early people for bows and arrows, as well as spears and snowshoes. They fashioned the bark into baskets, mats, and parts of assembled canoes were it was sewn into place with roots from the black spruce.

White birch has predators. The trees are susceptible to insects including borers and leaf miner, as well as bacteria and fungus. Nicks and cuts from pruning, being bumped, and vandalism can cause sap bleeding which will leave dark scars.

Sources

Betula papyrifera, Forest Service, http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/betpap/all.html
Betula papyrifera, University of Connecticut, http://www.ipm.uconn.edu/Plants/b/betpap/betpap1.html
Betula papyrifera, University of Florida, http://hort.ufl.edu/trees/BETPAPA.pdf
Native American Technology, http://www.nativetech.org/brchbark/canoe.htm