Betula papyrifera Betula papyrifera Betula papyrifera (paper birch, also known as white birch and canoe birch) is a short-lived species of birch native to northern North America. Paper birch is named due to the thin white bark which often peels in paper like layers from the trunk. Paper birch is often one of the first species to colonize a burned area within the northern latitudes and an important species for moose browse. The wood is often used for pulpwood and firewood. It is a medium-sized deciduous tree typically reaching tall, and exceptionally to with a trunk up to in diameter. Within forests
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