River Birch
Betula nigra. 18-24" bare root. River birch is a popular, fast-growing native tree for the home landscape. Attractive salmon-pink to reddish-brown bark exfoliates to reveal lighter inner bark. Dark green foliage turns a beautiful buttery yellow in the fall. This species is resistant to bronze birch borer (BBB).
This deciduous tree has limited usefulness for timber but because of its graceful form and attractive bark it is frequently used in ornamental plantings in decidedly less moist conditions from which it originated, especially at the northern and western extremes of its natural range. It is one of the very best fast-growing shade trees, valued as a landscape tree for the colorful exfoliating bark which is particularly noticeable in the winter. It is one of the most culturally adaptable and heat tolerant of the birches and a good substitute for pest-prone paper and white birches. Another appealing feature is the shimmering contrast when the leaves flutter in the wind, revealing a lower leaf surface of a different color than the upper surface.
River birch is a medium to tall tree, growing 60-80 feet at maturity and about 40 wide. Trees typically live 50 -75 years. The trunk typically grows about 2 feet in diameter but occasionally will be much wider. This shade tree has highly symmetrical branching and upright pyramidal to upright oval form. Although it naturally forms just a single trunk, it is frequently sold in multiple-trunked form with two to five trunks per tree.
Many birds, including chickadees, song sparrows, wild turkey, pine siskins, and finches, eat the seed. - University of Wisconsin