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 lenta vertical cracks into irregular scaly plates revealing rough dark brown bark patterns. This, however, only occurs in mature, or ancient, trees and these specimens are not often identified by the public as "B. lenta" due to the difference between the tree's smooth young bark (which the public is most familiar with) and the tree's rough, cracked and plated mature bark. The twigs, when scraped, have a strong scent of wintergreen due to methyl salicylate, which is produced in the bark. The leaves are alternate, ovate, long and broad, with a finely serrated margin. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins long, the