PlantFiles: Sweet Birch, Black Birch, Cherry Birch
Betula lenta

I became facinated with Sweet Birch a couple years ago while hiking in the Red River Gorge area of Kentucky. I came across a massive moss covered boulder (about 20ft high) in a ravine area which had a medium sized tree growing on top of it. Upon further inspection it was a sweet birch which had over time grown roots over the sides of the boulder to reach the earth at the base. I would like to find the tree again someday and take a picture.

A beautiful tree in form, foliage, and tenacity. Unfortunately it doesnt have the white bark demanded of birches used in landscapes.

I have a number of these on my property - most are small (10' or so high and no more than 3 inches in diameter), although one is slightly larger, and another is about 60' tall with a 14-16" diameter trunk.

The twigs have a very distinctive wintergreen fragrance - these trees supply both wintergreen flavoring extract and the key ingredient in birch beer.

I discovered that I had this on my land by trimming what I thought were suckers on some oaks last spring - the sap was running and the scent filled the air. These trees seem to like to grow right up against other trees. All but a few of the ones on my property are up against an oak, maple, or sassafras - even the largest one has displaced a trunk of what once was a maple that it grew up next to.

The leaves have a beautiful bright green in the spring, and turn brilliant yellow in the fall.

Not a white-barked birch and excellent as a shade tree.