|
| 
Asian White Birch Autumn Foliage |
Birch grows in climates ranging from boreal to humid and tolerates wide variations in precipitation. Its northern limit of growth is arctic Canada and Alaska, in boreal spruce woodlands, in mountain and sub alpine forests of the western United States, the Great Plains, and in coniferous - deciduous forests of the Northeast and Great Lakes states. |
Asian White Birch, Morton Arboretum acc. 578-2000*2, from seed, is 10 years old [1].
Animals dependant on Birch- Moose: Important browse throughout most of range. Nutritional quality is poor in winter, but is important to wintering moose because of its sheer abundance in young stands.
- White-tailed Deer: though considered a "secondary-choice food", it is an important dietary component. In Minnesota, white-tailed deer eat considerable amounts of birch leaves in the fall.
- Snowshoe hare browse birch seedlings and saplings.
- Porcupines feed on the inner bark
- Beaver also eat it though generally prefer aspen, while willow and paper birch are second choice foods.
- Voles and shrews eat the seeds.
- Numerous birds and small mammals eat paper birch buds, catkins and seeds.
- Young paper birch stands provide prime deer and moose cover.
Birds: - Numerous cavity-nesting birds nest in birch, including woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, and swallows.
- A favorite feeding tree of yellow-bellied sapsuckers, which peck holes in the bark to feed on the sap. Hummingbirds and red squirrels also feed at sap wells in paper birch created by sapsuckers.
- Ruffed grouse eat the catkins and buds.
- Redpolls, siskins, and chickadees obtain a considerable portion of their annual diet from birch seeds
|
Separate male and female flowers are borne on the same tree; the male in the form of a catkin, and the female in cone-like clusters that fall from the tree and are blown for long distances by the wind. In the fall, the foliage turns pale yellow.
The graceful elegance of the birch allows it to be used as a specimen or for naturalizing, and is best used in large areas. It transplants easily and is most effective when planted in groupings. A multi-trunk specimen is more handsome than single-trunk trees. It should not be planted in high-use areas such as driveways, walks and patios, as dead branches tend to be messy. Periodic pruning is required to remove these branches; this can be done at any time of year. although the river birch thrives in wet areas, it does not require excessive amounts of water. It tolerates fairly dry soils once it is established. It requires acidic soils, suffering from iron deficiency if pH levels are 6.5 or higher. This species requires full sun and tolerates high temperatures. --as featured on Wikipedia |
References- Asian White Birch, Morton Arboretum acc. 578-2002*2, photographed October 19, 2009, by Bruce Marlin
|
|
