Betula alleghaniensis Betula alleghaniensis Betula alleghaniensis, the yellow birch or golden birch, is a large and important lumber species of birch native to North-eastern North America. Its vernacular names refer to the color of the tree's bark. The name "Betula lutea" was used expansively for this tree but has now been replaced. "Betula alleghaniensis" is the provincial tree of Quebec, where it is commonly called "merisier", a name which in France is used for the wild cherry. It is a medium-sized, typically single stemmed, deciduous tree reaching tall (exceptionally to ) with a trunk typically in diameter. Yellow birch is a relatively
Betula pendula continues from a lateral bud. The species is monoecious with male and female catkins found in the same tree. Some shoots are long and bear the male catkins at the tip, while others are short and bear female catkins. The immature male catkins are present during the winter but the female catkins develop in the spring, soon after the leaves unfurl. The leaves have short slender stalks and are long, triangular with broad, untoothed, wedge-shaped bases, slender pointed tips and coarsely double-toothed, serrated margins. They are sticky with resin at first but this dries as they age leaving small white