Paper Birch Betulaceae Betula papyrifera
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.