Betula papyrifera …it is now one of the best loved trees of the New England landscape, and when we remember a scene there, we see birches in it — gleaming white trunks, houses, and churches painted a cold, clean white, and pure country snow stretching white over dale and hill. — Donald Culross Peattie Beauty and romance may be the first images many people associate with the gleaming white paper birch. But this symbol of the north country, and the state tree of New Hampshire, has earned its place in history as a continuously useful tree that has served North Americans since the earliest days of human activity. Along with its close associate, quaking aspen, paper birch is one of the most widely distributed tree species on our continent. It is primarily a tree of the great boreal forest that stretches from New England to Alaska. Specifically, it is an ecological product of short growing seasons, low temperatures, and cold soils which may fluctuate from excessively moist in the spring to excessively dry in late summer. A key to the occurrence of paper birch in a forest is sunlight. It is what foresters call shade intolerant and a pioneer species. … Continue reading Paper Birch: Shining Beauty