Leaf: Ovate or nearly 4-sided,; coarsely doubly saw-toothed or slightly lobed; usually with 7-9 veins on each side. Shiny dark green above, whitish and usually hairy beneath; turning dull yellow in aututmn.
Flower: Tiny; in early spring. Male yellowish, with 2 stamens, many in long drooping catkins near tip of twigs. Female greenish in short upright catkins back of tip of same twig.
Cones: Cylindrical, brownish, upright, short-stalked; with many hairy scales and hairy 2-winged nutlets; maturing in late spring and early summer.
Twig: Reddish-brown, slender, hairy.
Bark: Shiny pinkish-brown or silbery-gray; separating into papery scales; becoming thick, fissured, and shaggy.
Form: Often slightly leaning and forked tree with irregular, spreading crown.
This is the southernmost New World birch and the only birch that occurs at low altitudes in the southeastern United States. Its ability to thrive on moist sites makes it useful for erosion control.
SW Connecticut south to N Florida, west to E Texas, and north to SE Minnesota; local in Massachusetts and S New Hampshire.
http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/vine/toxdiv/index.html
Photographed outside Fairview, Illinois.
Copyright Jamie Neville and Radine Kellogg
Spoon River Valley HS Dist#4
London Mills, IL 61544
The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees