In elementary school, you might have learned that the Native Americans used the paper birch for canoes, wigwams and utensils. They found the wood to be light, strong and hard, with close spaces ...

In this episode of ID That Tree, Purdue Extension forester Lenny Farlee introduces the Paper Birch. This species is found in the North Woods of Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Paper birch certainly lends itself to comparisons with paper; the bark is smooth and white and flammable. This whiteness, it turns out, is key to the ability of the birch to survive extreme cold.

Editor's Note: This column first appeared in the York Weekly in 2013. Paper birch (also called white birch) is an iconic tree of the north and probably our most easily recognized tree because of it… ...

His paper bark birch was in serious decline. From what I could see this 18 inches to 2 feet diameter tree was in bad shape. I talked to the homeowner, and he made the decision to take it down.

The paper birch was used by First Nations as material for canoes, baskets and cradles. They also used it for wrapping and storing food. The wood was used for making small items such as bows and spoons ...

The two are oftentimes confused, but unlike the paper birch, the gray birch has a trunk that does not extensively shed or peel its bark. Rarely growing above forty feet tall, gray birch thrive in ...

River birch support a wide variety of wildlife as deer and other browsers feed on the foliage, ... or come in handy as waterproof paper. According to Thomas Jefferson, birch bark is the best for ...