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.
- Family
- Betulaceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 20–40 ft
- Spacing
- 10–20 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- dry, moist, wet
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- April, May
- Bloom colors
- yellow, green, brown
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~411 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- specimen, rain garden
- Native states
- CT, IL, MA, ME, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA, VT