sweet birch
Betula lenta
This tree is the traditional source of birch beer. Its sap and inner bark contain methyl salicylate, the organic compound that gives wintergreen its distinctive minty scent.
- Scientific name
- Betula lenta
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Fagales › Betulaceae › Betula
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Moist, well-drained soils of deciduous and mixed coniferous-broadleaf forests, often on rocky slopes.
- Diet
- Autotrophic (produces energy via photosynthesis using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide).
- Range
- Appalachian Mountains, Eastern United States, Southeastern Canada
- Size
- 15 to 25 meters (50 to 80 feet) tall, with a trunk diameter of 60 to 90 cm.
- Lifespan
- 150 to 250 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Forest fragmentation, heavy browsing of seedlings by white-tailed deer, and fungal pathogens such as Nectria canker.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless and safe to approach. You can gently scratch a young twig to release a pleasant wintergreen aroma. Do not peel or carve into the dark, cherry-like bark, as this damages the tree and exposes it to fungal infections. If consuming wild birch tea made from twigs, do so in moderation, as methyl salicylate is toxic in high concentrations.
Betula lenta ( sweet birch , also known as black birch , cherry birch , mahogany birch , or spice birch ) is a species of birch native to eastern North America, from southern Maine west to southernmost Ontario, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia.
Photo: Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), PD, via iNaturalist
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