An Asian river birch

Birch trees are not just important keystone species that play important roles in many north temperate ecosystems, but they often make gorgeous landscape specimens as well. Most are planted and appreciated because of their notable bark traits, which can range from black and rugged like that of an old Betula dahurica to crisp and cleanly white as in Betula papyrifera.

The river birch, Betula nigra, of North America is a very popular landscape tree, appreciated for its peeling bark, seen here in the cultivar 'Cully', and uncharacteristic (for a birch) tolerance to heat and drought.




















But another species of birch, Betula albo-sinensis, blows it out of the water with respect to its ornamental "a-peel". I first saw this species grown in the UK, where I mistook it for an American river birch on steroids. I also got to see it growing along mountain streams in southern Shaanxi Province, China. Note the similarities in the hue and texture of the bark. I particularly love the color when the light shines through the peels, as can be seen in these two images.


















When I was in China, I was told that it is tradition to carefully peel away the "paper" and write poetry on it for one's lover, particularly when first declaring your love for him/her. The sappy romantic in me likes the idea, but the tree lover shudders at the thought! Luckily, I don't think one does too much harm to the plant by removing but a few strips of paper, although if you remove too much you may get into trouble. Plants can get 'sun burned', particularly in the winter (surprisingly) and I wonder if birch trees that have had several strips of bark removed are more prone to this damage known as Southwest (the direction of intense winter sun when north of the Equator) Injury.

Hmmm.... that would be an interesting experiment to conduct...