Birch

Downy Birch
Betula pubescens

Silver Birch
Betula pendula

Description and Habitat
Downy Birch was one of the first trees to grow when the ice age retreated around twelve and a half thousand years ago, although the Silver Birch is more prevalent today over the whole of Britain, and tends to grow most abundantly in the North West of Scotland. The Downy Birch isn’t so commonly today, but the Silver Birch is still the first tree to colonize waste ground, and is in fact considered a pest by some as it invades forests of pine, which are often grown as a cash crop.

The name Betula is the family name that the birch belongs to, along with hornbeam and hazel, the Latin name pendula for the Silver Birch means ‘drooping branches’, and its habit of hanging down are another easy way of recognition. The Latin name of pubescens for the Downy Birch means ‘hairy’ which is reflected by its downy (hairy) twigs. Birch trees are deciduous (they loose their leaves in winter)

The Silver Birch thrives in dry places, whilst the Downy Birch prefers wetter locations, which is probably why Silver Birch are found to the East of Britain and Downy Birch to the West.

The Silver Birch seldom attains more than 80 years old, especially in a woodland where other trees will soon outgrow its height of 30 metres, with the Downy Birch attaining a possible 20 metres. The trunk of the Birch is slender, with a bark almost as tough as the wood of the tree, in Silver Birch the bark is silvery white in colour, making it easily recognised, the Downy Birch having a somewhat darker brown colour.  

The leaves of both species are similar in shape, although there are subtle differences, it’s easier to attempt to distinguish the two by the colour of the bark.  Birch trees are monoecious, which means they have both male and female flowers with pollination achieved by the wind. The male flower or catkin is drooping whilst the female flower or catkin is upright.

Uses
Birch wood burns quickly and hot, and emits a beautiful smell. Its sap was extensively used to make birch sap wine, especially in Scotland, where it is now making somewhat of a revival, especially by home brewers, although collecting the sap is made difficult as there is a two week window in early March when the sap can be gathered. 

Birch is used to make the famous Birch besom (see folklore), used by gardeners’ for sweeping up leaves in autumn, the birch making the head of the besom, its tendril like branches making it the ideal sweeping brush. Furniture is sometimes made from birch wood, its timber being touch and straight grained, making it suitable for providing strength. Birch was the preferred timber for making bobbins and reels for the cotton mills of Lancashire. Birch is traditional for making cradles for the new born (see folklore) as well as agricultural tools. 

The wood was used as timber for smoking hams, herrings, and the whiskey industry, and the branches for thatching on houses. 

Medicinal Uses
Birch leaves are an effective remedy for cystitis and urinary infections, and are a diuretic, cleansing the system making it of use in the treatment of gout, rheumatism and arthitus. The bark is used externally for relief of muscle pain and is used by placing the internal part of the bark against the skin. Birch leaves are effective in lowering blood pressure, and an infusion of birch leaves will cool a fever and therefore aid the symptoms of the common cold.

Folklore
Folklore of the Birch abounds. It is known as the ‘Mother tree’ because it was the first to grow after the ice age retreated, hence it is associated with fertility. The head of the besom is traditionally made from birch, it also represents the ‘mound of venus’ (female mons pubis), the besom when stood with its birch head upright represents the female, with the ash handle upwards it represents the male. 

Springtime festivities often revolved around the ‘bounds’ of the parish or farm holding being beaten by a birch branch, which was said to drive out evil spirits, allowing fertility of the land to thrive, a request to the spirits of the land for a full harvest. Another festival with the Birch at its center is that of Mayday, where the traditional Maypole is made of Birch, taken from the woodland at the break of day and danced around in another fertility ritual, connected both with the fertility of the land and of the people, known as Beltain, its fires were often made of Ash and Birch.

Birch branches once adorned the church at Whitsuntide as symbols of rebirth, renewed life after the winter, possibly because they bear both male and female flowers on one tree, and were often given to those who are newly married to ensure fertility. There are those who profess that Birch branches in church represent the Holy Spirit, as the leaves dance to the slightest breeze, which would afford protection from evil spirits. 

Babies cradles and rattles were often made of Birch, for the protection, again, against all things evil, and to protect against the faery realm, who would often exchange a human child for a changeling or faery child.  

The Birch is also connected to the fly agaric mushroom, the preferred ‘shroom’ of the Shaman, with the fungus fly agaric found predominantly in Britain growing beneath a Birch tree. A fungus also found growing mainly on dead or dying Birch is that of ‘Witches Bracket’ (Piptoporus betulinus), which, when dried, makes an excellent firelighter.

Birch twigs have been used for flogging criminals and lunatics with the intent to ‘drive out the evil spirits’.  Some say the birch is the only tree never to be struck by lightening, whether this is because it is associated with fertility or because its too well hidden in the woodland to be accessible is anyone’s guess. It is said that to see green Birch in a dream was an omen of illness but to see two birches growing together with briars on the grave of two lovers indicated that death had not divided them