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{{SPlantbox
{{SPlantbox
|familia=Betulaceae
|genus=Betula
|taxo_author=L.
|common_name=Sweet Birch
|common_name=Sweet Birch
|Temp Metric=°F
|Temp Metric=°F
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
|image=Upload.png
|image=Betula lenta subsps lenta 01-10-2005 14.53.56.JPG
|image_width=240
|image_width=180
}}
}}
'''Sweet Birch''' (''Betula lenta''), also known as '''Black Birch''', '''Cherry Birch''', '''Mahogany Birch''', '''River Birch''', or '''Spice Birch''' is a species of [[birch]] native to eastern [[North America]], from southern [[Maine]] west to southernmost [[Ontario]] and southern [[Michigan]], and south in the [[Appalachian Mountains]] to northern [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].
It is a medium-sized [[deciduous]] [[tree]] reaching 20 m tall with a trunk up to 60 cm diameter. The [[bark]] is (unlike most birches) rough, dark blackish-brown, cracking into irregular scaly plates. The twigs, when scraped, have a strong scent of [[methyl salicylate|oil of wintergreen]]. The [[leaf|leaves]] are alternate, ovate, 5-10 cm long and 4-8 cm broad, with a finely serrated margin. The [[flower]]s are wind-pollinated [[catkin]]s 3-6 cm long, the male catkins pendulous, the female catkins erect. The [[fruit]], maturing in fall, is composed of numerous tiny winged [[seed]]s packed between the catkin bracts.
Sweet Birch was used commercially in the past for production of oil of wintergreen before modern industrial synthesis; the tree's name reflects this scent of the shoots.
The [[sap (plant)|sap]] flows about a month later than [[maple]] sap, and much faster. The trees can be tapped in a similar fashion, but must be gathered about three times more often. [[Birch sap]] can be boiled the same as maple sap, but its syrup is stronger (like [[molasses]]).
{{Inc|
{{Inc|
Betula lenta, Linn. (B. carpinifolia, Ehrh.). Cherry, Sweet, or Black Birch. Tree, 60-70 ft.: trunk dark reddish brown, young bark aromatic, of agreeable flavor: Lvs. oblong-ovate, usually cordate at the base, sharply and doubly serrate, hairy beneath when young, nearly" glabrous at length, 2-5 in. long: cones ovoid- oblong, 1-1½ in. long; scales about tin. long, lobed only at the apex, the middle lobe slightly longer. From Maine to Ala., west to eastern Ohio. S.S. 9:448. H.T. 124, 125. Em. 232.—Very handsome tree, round- headed and with pendulous branches when older; attractive in spring, with its long staminate catkins. Bark and Lvs. largely used in domestic practice: branches and foliage yield an oil very similar to oil of wintergreen, and employed for all conditions in which the latter proves useful; bark as well as the oil much used for flavoring.
Betula lenta, Linn. (B. carpinifolia, Ehrh.). Cherry, Sweet, or Black Birch. Tree, 60-70 ft.: trunk dark reddish brown, young bark aromatic, of agreeable flavor: Lvs. oblong-ovate, usually cordate at the base, sharply and doubly serrate, hairy beneath when young, nearly" glabrous at length, 2-5 in. long: cones ovoid- oblong, 1-1½ in. long; scales about tin. long, lobed only at the apex, the middle lobe slightly longer. From Maine to Ala., west to eastern Ohio.—Very handsome tree, round- headed and with pendulous branches when older; attractive in spring, with its long staminate catkins. Bark and Lvs. largely used in domestic practice: branches and foliage yield an oil very similar to oil of wintergreen, and employed for all conditions in which the latter proves useful; bark as well as the oil much used for flavoring.
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==Cultivation==
===Propagation===
===Pests and diseases===
==Varieties==
==Gallery==
<gallery perrow=5>
<gallery>
Image:Upload.png| photo 1
Image:Upload.png| photo 2
Image:Betula lenta subsps lenta 01-10-2005 14.54.08.JPG
Image:Betula lenta subsps lenta 01-10-2005 14.54.08.JPG
Image:Black_birch_bark.jpg|Birch bark
Image:Black_birch_bark.jpg|Birch bark
</gallery>
</gallery>
== External links ==
==References==
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500250 Flora of North America: ''Betula lenta''] [http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=5742&flora_id=1 RangeMap:]
<references/>
*[http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/bele.htm ''Betula lenta'' images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu]
*[[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]], by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
<!--- xxxxx *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381 -->
<!--- xxxxx *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432 -->
<!--- xxxxx *Sunset National Garden Book. Sunset Books, Inc., 1997. ISBN 0376038608 -->
{{Commons|Betula lenta}}
==External links==
*{{wplink}}
{{stub}}
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