Yellow Birch
Betula alleghaniensis
A long-lived northern hardwood with shining bronze-gold curling bark and wintergreen-scented twigs. Prefers cool, moist, rich soils and tolerates more shade than other birches. Like other birches, the spring sap taps into a sweet drink or syrup, and the inner bark has served as a famine-food flour.
- Family
- Betulaceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 60–75 ft
- Spacing
- 60–75 ft apart
- Light
- part shade, shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- April, May
- Bloom colors
- yellow, green, brown
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~411 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- naturalizing
- Native states
- CT, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV
Related native plants
More Betula species
- Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)
- River Birch (Betula nigra)
- Sweet Birch (Betula lenta)
- Gray Birch (Betula populifolia)
- Bog Birch (Betula pumila)
- Water Birch (Betula occidentalis)