Silver birch

The white-trunked beauty of the north

A birch trunk is white with black marks — no other tree looks like that! The white bark reflects the sun and protects the tree from frost in winter. In spring sweet sap flows from the birch, and you can drink it. Its bark was once used instead of paper: people wrote letters on it! Birch grows in the north, even in Siberia.

The silver birch (Betula pendula) is the 'pioneer' tree of Europe and Siberia: first to colonise burnt or felled land, its seeds (millions per tree) blow for kilometres. Betulin in the bark makes it white and stops it cracking in winter sun; betulin is also medicinal. In March–April birch sap flows (up to 5 l a day). Over 1,000 letters written on birch bark from the 11th–15th centuries were found in Novgorod. The wood makes plywood, furniture and once skis. Up to 30 m, living 100–150 years. Birch bolete mushrooms grow with it in symbiosis. A symbol of Russia and Finland. In Uzbekistan it grows in the mountains (Turkestan birch) and is planted in cities.

Fun facts

• Medieval Russians wrote letters on birch bark — over 1,000 have been found.
• In spring one birch gives 5 litres of sweet sap a day.
• The birch's white bark protects it from winter sun.