Tree Identification - Silver Birch

It’s always best to tackle things in small pieces. It makes hard jobs simpler, and learning difficult subjects easier. As part of my efforts to improve my outdoor skills I decided to work on my tree identification skills which are currently, to be fair, pretty rubbish. Instead of spending hours swotting up I going to take a different approach.

Fortunately my garden has a quite a number of trees, with a fair number of different species. I’m going to take one tree at a time, identify it, research it and publish what I here along with some pictures. Following this process should help lock what I’ve learnt in my head and in time build up to a decent collection. I don’t intend to write either the authoritative or even a complete work on tree recognition, but if what I write helps others then that is an added bonus. I’m starting this effort now as I want to be able to identify the trees in both winter and summer. Once I’m done with my garden then I’ll move further afield.

First of all is the Silver Birch (Betula Pendula) – a stalwart of bushcraft and an easy identification. I thought I had a few of these in the garden but on closer inspection I have only one.

A deciduous tree common throughout the UK. Easily distinguished by its triangular (or more accurately rounded kite) shaped, serrated edged leaves and distinctive white/grey bark.

I’ll post a photo of the leaves when they come out. I know I could source an image from somewhere else, but that defeats the object somewhat.

In winter the hairless twigs have alternating buds and may have catkins – especially towards spring. On my example below the catkins are quite obvious, possibly as a result of the ridiculously mild minter we are having.

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last.

Birch wood burns quickly but gives out good heat and pleasant smell.

A diuretic can be concocted from the leaves, and in the spring the tree can tapped and sap extracted from the tree (although care must be taken not to ‘bleed’ the tree dry) which can be fermented into wine, drank neat, or – as recommended by Ray Mears – frozen into ice cubes and served with a good single malt.

See the bottom of this page for recipes for both the tea and wine.

The bark of a Silver Birch tree is extremely useful. It can be peeled off the tree like paper (do not take bark in a full circle around the tree though – this will ‘girdle’ the tree and eventually kill it) and is waterproof. Due to its flexibility it can be used to make a variety of objects from small containers right up to Canoes! The bark is also a wonderful aid to fire lighting and is amongst the best of the natural tinders.