Paper Birch Paper birch
trees have a thin bark that peels in horizontal
layers which separates into sheets, almost like
paper. Birch trees can grow in pairs or clusters.
There are many different types of birch trees and
they all grow fairly tall. Both the sweet and paper
birch can grow anywhere from sixty to eighty feet
high. Some smaller types of birches are yellow
birch, which grows anywhere from fifty to
seventy-five feet, the river birch which grows
anywhere from fifty to sixty feet, and the smallest
yet, the gray birch which very rarely grows higher
than forty feet. Birch nutlets are fairly small and
grow in a cone. Birchesproduce long catkins (scaly
spikes) which hold tiny flowers. The closed male
catkins appear in the autumn, whereas the female
ones dont appear until the following spring.
Birch is a group of about forty trees and shrubs of North America, Europe, and Northern Asia. Paper birch grows in the taiga, or boreal forests, of Canada as far north as the tundra, and in the deciduous forests of the northern United States as far south as the Appalachian Mountains. The European white birch grows in northern Europe. by Leah E. 2000
bibliography: The World Book Encyclopedia, volume 18, Chicago, World Book Inc. Pg. 809-810. The World Book Encyclopedia, volume 15, Chicago, World Book Inc. Pg. 667-668. The World Book Encyclopedia, volume 2, Chicago, World Book Inc. Pg. 327.
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