Examples: White Birch (betula pubescens), Canoe Birch or Paper Birch (Betula papyrifea), Sweet or Black Birch (Betula lenta), Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis = Betula lutea), European White Birch (Betula alba)

      Birch is the first tree in the Ogham system, and as such, represents new beginnings. The Birch month (Beth or Beith) of the Celtic tree calendar is the month immediately following Samhain, which is the Celtic New Year...or the month of November. Birch is known as the Lady of the Woods, and her clean white bark is a clear marker in a thickly grown forest. She will point the way to a clear purpose and a fresh start. On the Isle of Man, criminals were "birched" to ceremoniously drive out evil influences.
     Birch was widely used by Native Americans, in bark tea for fevers, stomachaches, lung ailments; twig tea for fevers. Essential oil (methyl salicylate) distilled from bark was used for rheumatism, gout, scrofula, bladder infection, neuralgia; anti-infalmmatory, analgesic. To alleviate pain or sore muscles, the oil has been applied as a counter-irritant. Essential oil was formerly produced in Appalachia.
     Warning: Essential Oil is toxic . Easily absorbed through the skin. Fatalities reported.
     Planting a stand of birches in a wet area will tend to dry up the soil, since Birch trees like to have wet feet. They are beautiful ornamentals that grow relatively quickly, and their dancing, playful leaves never fail to bring a smile to my face. I have a stand of clump birch in a semi-circle around my small pond.

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