Sweet Birch

 Betula Lenta

Identification Information

Date: Sunday, June 13, 2021

Time: 5:00 p.m.

Location:  Hunsicker’s Grove (9350 Longswamp Road, Mertztown, PA 19539)

Habitat:  Temperate Mixed Forest, dominated by Hickory-Oak

Weather conditions:  75 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly humid, cloudy skies

The leaves of the Sweet Birch are oblong and toothed.  This one was growing at the edge of dense forest, which makes sense because it is classified as a fairly shade-intolerant tree.  

(Brockman, 1986, p. 104)

The trunk of this one was about one and a half feet in diameter.  I don't know the height of the tree because the entire top was broken off.  Without being able to get too close (too much poison ivy down there!), I can't determine what might have caused the damage.  The bark of Sweet Birch is unique in that it has horizontal ridges, but as it gets older, the bark splits vertically then sheds.  The amount of peeling this particular tree bark is showing indicates that it is probably about 80 years old.

Betula lenta. (2021, May 16). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 15, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 

     Betula_lenta