Birch

In Sutton we mostly see the brown bark types of birch trees. I believe all I've seen is the grey birch, although I admit it's hard to tell the dark birch (i.e. non white birch) from each other. In general in the world of birch trees there are:

river birch / red birch (Betula nigra): wildly peeling bark.

yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis): mild peels in its yellowish bark. Wintergreen flavor if you eat a stem.

sweet birch / black birch / birch cherry (Betula lenta): smoothish bark. Wintergreen flavor.

gray birch: also not "peely". Grey bark. dark chevron at some branch bases, pointed leaf tips, and double toothed leaves.

These photos are all of gray birch trees.

Birch trees have bark that is "peelable". Please don't peel birch bark! It can kill a tree if you peel a complete ring around it.













Birch Trees main page

Trees of Sutton Massachusetts

Massachusetts Foliage Photo Collection
Sutton Massachusetts Photo Album