Betula lenta not resistant to deer browsing. Betula lenta Betula lenta (sweet birch, also known as black birch, cherry birch, mahogany birch, or spice birch) is a species of birch native to eastern North America, from southern Maine west to southernmost Ontario, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia. "Betula lenta" is a medium-sized deciduous tree reaching tall, exceptionally to with a trunk up to diameter. In younger trees the bark is characteristic of most birches, with smooth bark and distinct horizontal lenticels. It is sometimes mistakenly identified as a cherry tree. In older tree specimens the bark (unlike the
Cryptomeria Cryptomeria Cryptomeria (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae. It includes only one species, Cryptomeria japonica (syn. "Cupressus japonica" L.f.). It is endemic to Japan, where it is known as sugi (). The tree is called Japanese sugi pine or Japanese red-cedar in English. It is a very large evergreen tree, reaching up to tall and trunk diameter, with red-brown bark which peels in vertical strips. The leaves are arranged spirally, needle-like, long; and the seed cones globular, diameter with about 20–40 scales. It is superficially similar