Betula populifolia Betula populifolia Betula populifolia (gray or grey birch) is a deciduous tree native to eastern North America. It ranges from southeastern Ontario east to Nova Scotia, and south to Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with disjunct populations in Indiana, Virginia, and North Carolina. It prefers poor, dry upland soils, but is also found in moist mixed woodlands. Living only about 30 years, it is a common pioneer species on abandoned fields and burned areas. Gray birch grows quickly to 20 to 30 feet tall and 15 inch trunk diameter, with an irregular open crown of slender branches. The tree often has
Beech bark disease The woolly, white tufts and broad strips are the colonies of the beech scale insect that are formed in tiny crevices along the bark. An adult beech scale insect has a soft body, is yellow in color, ranges from 0.5 to 1.0 millimeter long, and has an elliptical shape. The beech scale insect also has a stylet that it uses to penetrate the bark of the tree for feeding purposes. There are no male beech scale insects and the female insects reproduce parthenogenetically. In mid to late summer, the beech scale insect lays its eggs and dies. The eggs are