White Birch – Simcoe County Master Gardener

Simcoe County Master Gardeners

Grow Natives!

PLANT PROFILE

COMMON NAME: White Birch/Paper Birch

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Betula papyrifera

Family	Birch
Cdn Native Range	all of Canada except Nunavut
Natural habitat	open, often disturbed sites and forest edges, lakeshores, roadsides on a variety of soils.
Features	On mature trees, the bark is distinctively white and very ornamental as it naturally sheds; spreads as either single trunked trees or multi-stemmed clumps.
Growth habit	crowns are open; fast-growing
Mature height	15–25 m
Mature trunk width	30–60 cm
Life span	25–80 years or longer under ideal conditions
Cdn Hardiness Zone	2–6
Growing conditions	sun
Soil conditions	drying average to moist
Watering needs	supplementary watering for the first 2–3 years
Tolerance	salt, drought, fire, deer, rabbit
Pruning needs	Birches “self-prune” and drop their lower branches.
Bloom	tiny, dangling yellow (male) flowers and upright (female) catkins emerge in spring
Fruit	small flat nutlets inside the catkins drop in the fall
Pollinator support	larval host to hundreds of species of butterflies and moths including the mourning cloak, the luna, the virginian tiger, and the banded tussock. catkins are an early spring food source for pollinators.
Environmental support	Provides year-round sustenance for various animals; an important food source for chickadees. Woodpeckers, sapsuckers, and nuthatches use the cavities for nesting. Bark is used as nesting material and as habitat for many insects including beneficials like ladybugs, lacewings, and parasitic wasps. A pioneer species, paper birch colonizes disturbed areas after fires and clearcuts, allowing the ecosystem to recover.
Garden Use	accent, specimen, massing, grove, erosion control
Risks & Cautions	Peeling the outer bark and exposing large sections of the inner bark can kill the tree. Isolated trees often die; some pests and diseases; poor heat tolerance; branch breakage in storms.

References: John Laird Farrar, Trees in Canada; Linda Kershaw, Trees of Ontario; Lorraine Johnson’s and Sheila Colla, A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee; Heather Holm, Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide.