Paper birch Water birch Black hawthorn

(Betula papyrifera) (Betula occidentalis) (Crataegus douglasii)

Bark Thin, white to reddish- brown, with dark horizontal slits called lenticels. It peels in papery strips, exposing reddish-orange inner bark which will gradually turn black with age. Bark Bark Thin, shiny, dark reddish-brown to black, with Young bark and twigs are deep tan to dark Leaves marked horizontal slits called lenticels. The bark mahogany. Older bark is gray to dark gray Triangle- or egg-shaped, about 8 centimetres long, does not peel like other birches. and scaled. and doubly toothed; dull green on top, paler with a soft down underneath. Leaves Leaves Oval-shaped, broadest below the middle, slightly Oval leaves are 3 to 6 centimetres long, with Flowers and Fruit tapered towards a blunt or sharp tip; 2 to 5 5 to 9 small lobes at the top. The flowers are either male or female and are centimetres long. The edges are thin, doubly- in narrow catkins. Female catkins are 2 to 4 toothed. The leaf surfaces are shiny, yellowish- Flowers and Fruit centimetres long, standing erect at the tip of the green above and paler, dotted with fine glands White, saucer-shaped flowers in flat-topped branch. Male catkins are longer and hang below underneath. clusters. Clusters of small, blackish “apples” the branch. The flowers appear before or at the called haws that wither quickly when ripe. same time as the leaves. The nutlets have wings Flowers and Fruit broader than the seed. Each tree produces Tiny, hairy nutlets with wings broader than Habitat thousands of seeds. the seed. Thousands of seeds are produced Black hawthorns like lots of sunlight to grow to from each tree. tree size. The apple-like fruit provides food for Habitat birds in the winter. Impenetrable hawthorn Paper birch grows on a variety of soils, and is Habitat thickets are good nesting and denning or resting abundant on rolling upland terrain and floodplain Water birch occurs on the wet to moist, nutrient- and sleeping sites for small birds and mammals. sites, but it also grows on open slopes, avalanche rich soils of streambanks, forests and marshes. It tracks, swamp margins and in bogs. It doesn’t grow is important in wetland ecosystems and those near well in shade, and consequently it often occurs in water, where it provides important habitat for many younger forests following a disturbance. birds and other animals.

30 m

10 m 8 m

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