Betula lenta subsp. The winter shoots support 3 to 4 staminate catkins. Carroll Co., VA 9/24/06. Staminate catkins are formed in late summer or autumn and open in the spring after elongating to about 20 mm (0.75 in). They open just before the leaves unfold in the spring. The flowers are produced in catkins. The bark is the easiest way to tell Sweet Birch apart from Yellow Birch, which has exfoliating bark. Sweet Birch is a relatively uncommon landscape tree in Minnesota. Chew the dormant twigs, or brew a delicious tea from twigs and leaves. One of the main sources of oil of wintergreen. Bark of a mature tree. Pendulous 3-4" catkins dangle from the shiny bronze branches in spring. The best birch for birch beer, brewed from its copious sap. A mature Sweet Birch, but the bark is still young to be smooth and not old, plated in southeast PA. Another shot of a Sweet Birch I took at Jenkins Arboretum in se PA in fall. Sometimes called Black Birch because of the blackish bark, it is similar to the bark of Black Cherry, which accounts for another of its other common names, Cherry Birch. uber - Cherry Creek birch; Hexaploid (6n = 84).. Betula allegheniensis - Yellow birch (B. lutea); Decaploid (10n = 140).. Betula austrosinensis - South China birch The leaves turn golden-yellow in the fall. It is valued for its wood, which when exposed to air darkens to resemble mahogany, as well as being a source of wintergreen oil. The cherry-like bark is smooth on young trees and scaly on mature ones. Sweet Birch is a large deciduous tree with reddish-brown to reddish-black bark. Also valued as beautiful furniture wood. The wood is hard, heavy, strong and can be beautifully polished. Flowering and Fruiting- Sweet birch flowers are monoecious and borne in catkins. Betula lenta, known by the common names of black birch, sweet birch, or cherry birch, is a native birch species present throughout much of eastern North America. The seeds are a food source for a variety of birds. The tree is valuable to wildlife species that depend on the catkins and seeds for food, and the trees are an important timber for woodworking and cabinetry. Betula lenta (sweet or black Birch) is native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southeast Manitoba, and south to Maryland and Delaware, and in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia and Alabama.. The catkins (elongated, drooping clusters of tiny flowers without petals) appear just before the leaves emerge. not a white-barked birch ; ID Features. Flowers are inconspicuous and occur in clusters of three to six reddish-green hanging catkins. The leaves are elliptical and have toothed margins. Flowering and Fruiting-Sweet birch flowers are monoecious and borne in catkins. Interestingly, the sweet sap of the birch can be reduced into syrup and was once used as birch beer. Subgenus Betulenta - Wintergreen oil birches. bruised twigs have wintergreen odor; but taste sweet (B. alleghaniensis tastes bitter) slender catkins, usually in 4's (B. alleghaniensis catkins are larger and usually in groups of 5 or more) bark reddish-brown when young (B. alleghaniensis has yellow-brown bark) SWEET BIRCH 95 oblong, and sharply toothed. An old 1980's photo I took of a planted tree's catkins in Batavia, IL Female catkins erect. Pistillate catkins appear with the leaves and are borne terminally on short, spurlike branches. The fruit, maturing in fall, is composed of numerous tiny winged seeds packed between the catkin bracts. The upper surface is dark green and dull; the lower surface is light y ellow-green. Leaves are simple, alternate, and dark green, turning yellow in the fall. Bark on twigs rich in methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen). It is Diploid (2n = 28).. 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