The White birch, Betulaceae Betula
papyrifera, became the Granite
State's official tree in the 1947
Legislature without argument or
opposition.
It was sponsored by Senator J. Guy
Smart of Durham, on behalf of the New
Hampshire Federation of Garden Clubs, of
which Mrs. Helen C. Funkhauser of Durham
was president. They easily piloted the
birch tree bill through the Senate and
the House of Representatives, and it was
signed into law on May 22 by Governor
Charles M. Dale of Portsmouth.
The white birch is also called the
canoe birch or the paper birch, for
understandable reasons. Indians used its
bark to make canoes, and it was also
used for writing paper.
The official state tree was labeled
"Queen Of The Woods," by Evelyn W.
Cortez, in an article in the December,
1947, issue of New Hampshire Troubadour,
the one-time esteemed state government
booklet, which said in part:
There are several reasons for
choosing the white birch for the
state tree. Not only is it native to
New Hampshire -- a first
consideration -- but it is found in
all regions of the state, growing as
it does on rich-wooded slopes and
along the borders of lakes and
streams. It is a characteristic part
of the scenery.
The beauty of the white birch is
dramatic against the green of other
trees. While all birches are sturdy and
graceful and may grow tall, the canoe,
or white birch sometimes reaches a
height of 80 feet. Its bark is chalky to
cream white, tinged with yellow, and
peels in thin film-like layers. Its
leaves are broadly oval on short, stout
leaf stalks. The cylindrical fruit
spikes usually droop in contrast to the
more commonly erect fruit of the other
birches.
New Hampshire Revised Statute
Annotated (RSA) 3:6
Anderson, Leon. History. Manual for
the General Court 1981.
Typical paper birch (Betula
papyrifera var. papyrifera),
also called white birch, canoe birch, or
silver birch, and the other five
intergrading geographical varieties,
western paper birch (B. papyrifera
var. commutata (Regel)
Fern.), mountain paper birch (B.
papyrifera var. cordifolia (Regel)
Fern.), Kenai birch (B. papyrifera
var. kenaica (W. H. Evans)
Henry), Alaska paper birch (B.
papyrifera var. neoalaskana (Sarg.)
Raup), and northwestern paper birch
(B. papyrifera var. subcordata
(Rydb.) Sarg.) are the most widely
distributed birches in North America,
mostly in Canada. These medium-sized,
fast-growing trees develop best on
well-drained, sandy loams on cool moist
sites. They are commonly found in the
mixed hardwood-conifer forests but may
form nearly pure stands where they
pioneer areas disturbed by fires or
logging. Paper birch is short-lived and
rarely lives more than 140 years.
Commercially the lumber is used for
veneer, pulpwood, and many specialty
items. The handsome foliage and showy
white bark make the trees attractive for
landscaping. They are important browse
plants for animals, and the seeds, buds,
and bark are also eaten by wildlife.
Description:
- Leaf: Alternate, simple,
pinnately-veined, ovate in shape,
with coarsely doubly serrate
margins, an acute tip and rounded
base.
- Flower: Preformed aments,
male near the end of the twig in 2's
or 3's, 3/4 to 1 1/4 inches long.
Female flowers are upright, 1 to 1
1/4 inches long. Flowers April to
June.
- Fruit: Cone like,
cylindrical 1 to 1 1/2 inches long,
deciduous at maturity, releasing
elliptical 2-winged nutlets. Matures
in the autumn, disperses over
winter.
- Twig: Slender, dull
red-brown, lacking wintergreen smell
when cut. Terminal bud absent,
lateral buds are gummy, chestnut
brown in color. Spur shoots present
on older growth.
- Bark: Smooth, thin,
chalky-to-creamy white; peeling in
horizontal papery strips. Brown to
black and furrowed at base. Orange
inner bark.
- Form: A medium-sized tree
with a pyramidal or irregular crown.
Taxonomic Hierarchy
|
Kingdom |
Plantae -- Plants |
Subkingdom |
Tracheobionta --
Vascular plants |
Superdivision |
Spermatophyta – Seed
plants |
Division |
Magnoliophyta –
Flowering plants |
Class |
Magnoliopsida –
Dicotyledons |
Subclass |
Hamamelidae – |
Order |
Fagales – |
Family |
Betulaceae – Birch
family |
Genus |
Betula L. – birch |
Species |
Betula papyrifera
Marsh. – paper birch |
Source:
Dendrology at Virginia Tech
U.S. Department of Agriculture