Betula pendula scales. The foliage is a pale to medium green and turns yellow early in the autumn before the leaves fall. In mid-summer, the female catkins mature and the male catkins expand and release pollen, and wind pollination takes place. The small 1 to 2 mm winged seeds ripen in late summer on pendulous, cylindrical catkins long and broad. The seeds are very numerous and are separated by scales, and when ripe, the whole catkin disintegrates and the seeds are spread widely by the wind. Silver birch can easily be confused with the similar downy birch ("Betula pubescens"). Yet, downy birch
Bark spud (tool) Bark spud (tool) The Bark spud, (also known as a Peeling Iron, Peeler Bar, Peeling Spud, or abbreviated to Spud) is an implement which is used to remove bark from felled timber. Most bark spuds have steel heads and wooden handles, typically hickory or ash. The head is curved, sometimes in one direction with a single cutting edge, and sometimes more dish shaped and sharpened on three sides. In use, the sharpened edge is slid between the bark and the wood, removing the bark from the tree in a number of strips. It is especially useful at removing bark without