Gray Birch
Betula populifolia
A fast, short-lived pioneer birch that thrives on poor sandy and disturbed soils where little else will grow. Slender chalky-gray trunks often lean and cluster, with fluttering aspen-like leaves. 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
- 20–40 ft
- Spacing
- 10–20 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade, shade
- Soil moisture
- dry, moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- April
- Bloom colors
- green, brown
- Wildlife value
- butterflies, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~411 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- naturalizing, rain garden
- Native states
- CT, DE, IN, MA, MD, ME, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA, VT
Related native plants
More Betula species
- Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis)
- Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)
- River Birch (Betula nigra)
- Sweet Birch (Betula lenta)
- Bog Birch (Betula pumila)
- Water Birch (Betula occidentalis)