Betula nigra
| Betula nigra | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 4 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 66' |
| Speed: | Fast |
| Blooms: | Early Spring |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Betula nigra (common name: river birch)
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a light position in a cold frame[1][2][3][4]. Only just cover the seed and place the pot in a sunny position[1][2][4]. Spring sown seed should be surface sown in a sunny position in a cold frame[3][4]. If the germination is poor, raising the temperature by covering the seed with glass can help[4]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
If you have sufficient seed, it can be sown in an outdoor seedbed, either as soon as it is ripe or in the early spring - do not cover the spring sown seed. Grow the plants on in the seedbed for 2 years before planting them out into their permanent positions in the winter[1][2][3][4].
Cultivation: Succeeds in a well-drained loamy soil in a sheltered position11, 43, 200]. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Likes its roots within reach of water[5]. Dislikes wet soils according to another report[6]. Shade tolerant[6].
Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus[7].
A good plant to grow near the compost heap, aiding the fermentation process[8].
Trees are notably susceptible to honey fungus[6].
Range: Eastern N. America - New Hampshire to Florida.
Habitat: Banks of streams, by swamps etc, in deep rich soil that is often inundated for weeks at a time[9].
Edibility: Sap - raw or cooked[10]. A sweet flavour[11]. Harvested in early spring, before the leaves unfurl. The trunk is tapped by drilling a hole about 6mm wide and about 4cm deep. The sap flows best on warm sunny days following a hard frost. It makes a refreshing drink[12][13] and can also be concentrated into a syrup or sugar[14]. The sap can be fermented to make birch beer or vinegar[14]. An old English recipe for the beer is as follows:-
"To every Gallon of Birch-water put a quart of Honey, well stirr'd together; then boil it almost an hour with a few Cloves, and a little Limon-peel, keeping it well scumm'd. When it is sufficiently boil'd, and become cold, add to it three or four Spoonfuls of good Ale to make it work...and when the Test begins to settle, bottle it up . . . it is gentle, and very harmless in operation within the body, and exceedingly sharpens the Appetite, being drunk ante pastum."[15].
Medicinal: A salve was made by boiling the buds until they were thick and pasty, sulphur was added and this was then applied externally to skin sores and ringworm[16].
The leaves have been chewed, or used as an infusion, in the treatment of dysentery[17].
An infusion of the bark has been used to treat stomach problems, 'milky' urine and difficult urination with discharge[17].
Usage: Young branches are used to make besoms, whisks etc[18].
This species has an extensive root system and is sometimes planted for erosion control along the banks of streams[19].
Wood - light, strong, close grained and hard, but it contains many knots because of the numerous branches along the trunk. It weighs 36lb per cubic foot. Of little use commercially, though it is sometimes used for furniture, turnery etc[20][21][22][19][23].
Pollinators: Wind
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Early Summer
Flower Type: Monoecious
Heavy Clay: Grows in heavy-clay soils.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sheat, Wilfrid. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. St Martin, 1948.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 McMillan-Browse, Philip. Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. Grower Books, 1985.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Dirr, Michael and Charles Heuser. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press, 1987.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Rice, Graham. Growing from Seed Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan, 1988.
- ↑ Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Tutin, Tom et al.. Flora Europaea. Cambridge University Press, 1964.
- ↑ Riotte, Louise. Carrots Love Tomatoes. Garden Way, 1978.
- ↑ Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ Harris, Ben. Eat the Weeds. Pivot Health, 1973.
- ↑ Saunders, Charles. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1976.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Duke, James. Handbook of Energy Crops. 1983.
- ↑ Weiner, Michael. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books, 1980.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ Mabey, Richard. Plants with a Purpose. Fontana, 1979.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Vines, Robert. Trees of North Texas. University of Texas Press, 1982.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Sargent, Charles. Manual of the Trees of North America. Dover, 1965.
- ↑ Elias, Thomas. The Complete Trees of North America. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1980.