BIRCH - 5 Things you Didn't Know About this Amazing Tree
My kids play Minecraft and get to see a lot of birch trees. But, I wanted them to know birch trees in real life - because they're even cooler than what you can do with them in the game! Maybe you'll think so too after watching this short.
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Here's a birch-related bushcraft trick from Siberia - you can extract tar from birch bark (the same way you extract it from any other bark via pyrolisys) and use it a natural mosquito repellant. Mix it up with some cheap skin moisturizing cream and it works like a charm. Gives some tan though so beware. Siberian natives use it all the time
The oil was also reduced by the Roman's to a tar and used as a glue to hold the horse hair in their helmets and the oil was also used in some areas to assist in the tanning of leather.
How cool 😎! Thanks for sharing That! 💥 Siberians, Romans... The Stuff we learn on KZhead 🤗. I love 💕 this place!
Spasiva, from Alaska
@@turtlewolfpack6061 and also on the tips of their arrows which set on fire. When tips impacted on roofs, microscopic splashes of molten metal would disperse the the fire all the more. The Romans 42 were geniuses of construction but evil geniuses of destruction. I leave you with the immortal words of Cassius Dio, “He brings forth destruction and calls it peace.”
We know!!! We also know that Catherine the Great a former educated German prinecess expanded her empire on trade with the West on fir, lumber, and tree resins. However, it was the Dutch who got the better part of the deal because they got lumber on the cheap and built windmills and cargo ships.
in Latvia we do this yearly thing with birch trees, where after winter we drill a hole inin tree put a wooden pipe in it and collect the birch tree water, super tasty and healty
Yes, if boiled down you can make birch syrup. Like maple syrup, but birchier.
In the thirties, birch water was also used by hairdressers. Afaik mostly for its smell and hair-softening features.
Yes indeed we do so in Estonia as well. Seems like a multiple regional thing.
I read years ago that some Russian birch forests were decimated by people drawing off too much sap to ferment for alcohol. Birch sap wine was a traditional home made wine in parts of the UK as well
@@kingspeechless1607 What a shame, in a country known for it's vodka..
Neat video! Didn't see it mentioned but if you peel birch bark, do not go all around the tree as that can girdle it. It pulls off its vascular tissue so it wont be able to move its sugars from the leaves to the roots! (I am one of those people who teach trees!)
Great point! Yes!
Good to know!
WOW... NEVER KNEW... THANKS
Thanks for that important info. I use peises of birch bark for a fire starter
They do survive just fine. And that is a fact!
I planted a reject paper birch baby from a nursery about 10 years ago and now she’s over 20 feet tall. Birch is the classiest tree in the forest…any forest.
++1?
Funny how they can get rejected like that and then resurrect from the dead. In the 60s, my dad planted a birch on our front lawn (in Long Island).... It didn't grow. He went back to the nursery believing he was sold a dead tree. They asked to wait a while before making good on the purchase. Months later they provided a replacement for that "dead tree". The new one shot right up. But then the "dead one" also rallied. They stood like two white towers in front of our house. They got HUGE and lived for about 40 years.
@@pheresy1367 Cool story, Thanks!
I had a group of three at the end of my house the tallest was 25 metres, I eventually had to fell them because of where they were. I wasn't happy to see them go.
@@pheresy1367 It’s a shame, they aren’t a very long lived tree. They are also subject to getting a certain disease that is taking a lot of them out. Sad, we live where allot of the birch on our property seem to be being affected.
One of the most important survival tips is the use of birch logs to make outdoor fires when it's raining and no other wood will burn. Even dead birch that has been lying on the ground and and partially rotted will burn in wet conditions. Very important to know if fire is needed for survival.
Nope
Bark burns but rotten wood no.
Birch wood is extremely fragile. A birch tree can be knocked down with one hand. The bark burns slow. Put in the middle of the wood in your wood stove, and light it, it will get the other wood burning.
@@themergen1 Birch wood is not at all fragile, and you cannot knock birch trees down at all by human power, unless the tree is dead and rotten. I don't know why some one would post such blatant nonsense. Sanderson, above, is also posting nonsense about rotting birch wood being flammable. This would only be true if the wood was extremely dry. In general, a rotten birch log would be about the most unburnable thing you could find. The bark, however, will burn in wet weather. It is saturated with a resin which is very flammable and makes it waterproof, unless the bark is very old and has become rotten itself.
@@donnievance1942 You did not read what I typed. Read more than 2 words next time.
One should leave the bark on the Birch trees. Removing it removes the natural protection from insects. Please pick your birch bark from dead fallen trees and limbs.
If you're just picking the loose thin flaky stuff without a knife, there's no harm done. They come off in the wind as the tree grows.
Every 9 year old on this video: “Aren’t those the Minecraft trees?”
instablaster...
The most hated of Minecraft wood types.
You can make syrup from Birch sap. It's similar to maple syrup. You can also drink that sap if you're in need of clean water. The forest will save you.
It was traditionally fermented for home made wine as well.
Birch sap is delicious and can b made into A syrup. It is nothing like maple syrup but tastes fruity almost like raisins. I have made Birch syrup and love it!
PS the sap contains 3 different types of sugar so making it is much more difficult than maple due to the fact that the 3rd sugar burns at a lower temperature than the other 2.
And drink it raw as a spring tonic.
As a child growing up in N.C. I knew a lot of old people who had never owned a toothbrush in their lives. They had always used a birch twig. Had better teeth than the ones that used a toothbrush
Xylitol stops decay
In Jane Austin they used birch twigs.
I grew up in rural Alabama learning carpentry and cabinetry from my grandfather and uncles. We have Birch trees here too. Birch is one of the best woods to use for making cabinets and if you boil the bark it makes a good yellow dye for fabrics
It's a semihardwood also good for tool handles (e.g. shovels), finns carve kuksa cups from birch. And of course great for plywood production (Baltic birch plywood comes mostly from my country).
No. Stop using the bark.
Hey, you did not mention that the Birch Tree grows Chaga; a fungus that grows on a live birch tree and is one of the best medicinal fungus in the forest. Also, the Horse Huff mushroom your wife pulled off the birch is great for packing a wounds (antiseptic) if you get injured in the forest and it makes a great tea to drink for your health. Also, there is another mushroom that grows on dead birch and it is called Birch Bracket, it pops out from beneath the bark and looks like a white bubble, later it blooms into a white flat shape mushroom with is also great as a medicinal/tea for your health.
You can make a syrup using it's sap like maple
@@asimhusain8087 Yes. Birch beer and soda.
You seem very knowledgeable, were did get your information can you recommend books
@@jacquelynejohnson9127 yes Steve brill Dr John kallas eull gibbons wrote books on foraging also sandy runyon is an author from the Adirondacks if you watch leds Stroud wild harvest on the create channel you can knowledge
@@asimhusain8087 I have two books by gibbons , he was popular in the 60s , with a commercial we he quoted " yes many parts of a pine tree are edible" for some product of something after this claim
Xylitol is a carbohydrate found in the birch tree and several kinds of fruit. It has a chemical structure that looks like a cross between a sugar and an alcohol, but it is neither. ( copied ). The tree is also “ tapped “ for it’s watery sap in Appalachia as a drink but not like tapping maple trees for our classic maple syrup. Enjoyed the family fun and learning about the birch tree. We have a Paper Birch in our backyard and I decoupage boxes with it as well using it for other decorative uses. Just subscribed! ☺️
I am a tree trimmer in Minnesota and almost every other tree trimmer and or non tree trimmer I meet doesn't know a tree from a bush from a flower from their elbow and it bothers me as well I wish there were more videos like this explaining things about tree biology!
Thanks Adam! That's the goal so obviously I appreciate that comment!
😆 so sad.... may just have something to do w the fact that the most recent generations of kids never really go outside to play & explore, like my generation (+ those before) - who were pushed out the door every weekend morning to 'go play', so our parents could actually get us out of their hair - usually for the entire day...
@@jamootoo5200 on a nature walk with kids from the city .. i pointed out some edible plants .. they cringed saying “we’re not eating that it’s growing in the dirt” they think food comes from styrofoam trays rapped in plastic .. too sad
From a Scandinavian perspective a lot of Americans are out of touch with nature it is sad.. even city-dwellers in Sweden loves nature and 40% own summer homes out in nature.. we take walks in nature almost every day and a lot of Swedes learns from their parents about nature, and also in schools.. Btw Do you know any Swedish as you are from Minnesota? Testing your Swedish skills: Hej, hur mår du? Är allt bra med din familj? Vilket vackert väder vi har fått på ground av global uppvärmning!? Kan jag bjuda på lite kaffe och köttbullar och kakor med lite brunsås till!?
Never met an arborist I liked!
I made many baskets from Paper birch,.Fall and early spring leaves are tasty. I tapped black birch for birch beer, used the white paper for writing, and fresh inside bark for tooling pictures like on leather. Most interesting was when making minature canoes. syrup can be made tapping white birch but it takes twice as much and as long to make it like maple syrup. My grandpa built a log cabin with hand peeled birch logs back in 1928 carried out of the forest by mules across the froen lake,and I spent the best 60 summers of my life there.
Donna ..please write about your year's there...maybe a book
That sounds amazing! Who wouldn’t love that!
@@alexandercove1194 I would also enjoy a book on that
Awesome story!
the best way to teach somebody the different types of trees as not only by showing them the bark of the tree how tall the trees can get but also and most importantly the shape of the leaves and the color of the leaves front and back pointing out any specific and identifying marks along the outer edges of the leaves. That's really the best way to teach people.
The cambium layer of bark is edible (raw, or cooked,) and can be dried & ground into a very nutritious flour. The sap can be consumed, or reduced over heat into a syrup. The Adirondack (“Tree Eaters”) Native American tribe lived largely off of consuming various parts of trees, like birches, beeches, and conifers. So, if your plane goes down in a remote part of mountain country, you don’t need to draw straws…
You do have to remove it carefully so you don't kill the tree.
Using birch bark for starting fires is one of the first things I learned about trees when I was a boy! Rob, I absolutely love this format. Keep going!
Thank you Wouter! I really appreciate that comment.
i made my bass guitar pick out of birch and i love it. i've never had a birch pick break and it sounds great in the mix. also who doesn't love chaga tea? birch is amazing
Before electricity, in N.C. they would put out the fire on the bark to make it smoke ( great scent ) and walk threw the house to get rid of mosquitoes ( skeeters :D )
This video hit home for me as a Norwegian. With the Birch facts, the snow and snowballs, making fires. Reminded me of my childhood. :)
The scenery at that time couldn't have been more epic. ;) Thanks for the nice note! - R
Greetings from Australia,I live in an old copper mining area.ceased production in 1962, Birch and Pines seem to thrive on sulphate contaminated land... I'll pass on trying to taste the bark!.
I just wanted to add something, earlier they would strip bark from the stems by making a vertical incision of perhaps 30cm and loosen one end then rip it off, these sheets could be used under grassy roofs (torvtak) - baskets and bowls could be made from it. Firewood from birch burns good but has less calories than hardwood, if some bark is taken from the wood before drying it, you have a storage of fantastic kindling. The swede did not mention the mountain birch, small and crooked, the gnarled and dense wood has been much used for knifehandles and such
calories???
@@jamootoo5200 calories are a measure of heat. Food calories are determined by the heat released by burning the food.
Yeah, I’m in northern Minnesota and we heat our home with wood. It’s a good burner but it doesn’t give off as much heat. It’s best to burn it along with other hard woods. You’d think a burning log would burn the same as any other, but that’s not how it works.
@@msgottaneedtoknow it's also fussy to get. You have to cut it live and split it right away or it rots. Any you find down is punk cause it won't dry unless the bark is popped.
@@msgottaneedtoknow Higher density is more calories, and some wood is "fatter", Birch is a little like chicken breast ^^
"Book" is from the german "Buch" which means " Book" because of paper birch.
With my family I early spring we were drilling into birtch tree to collect sweet drinkable juce, it is so good
I will never get tired of saying how great this channel is.
:) Thanks Justo.
You can tap them for a short time in the spring too, for a sweet energy drink.
ooh yes. So many things I didn't mention, but that was one I wanted to talk about. Do you tap a particular species?
@@UntamedScience I haven't had the chance myself, but another guy I follow from Canada did a great video on tapping Yellow Birch, which you seem to have in abundance! kzhead.info/sun/oZGlnJp8kIKsgGw/bejne.html
I'm a Mik'maq Native Canadian, we used to birchbark tree for the medicine chaga where we make teas from it
I visited Poland several years ago. I always saw groves of Birch trees outlying pines forests. Also, the Poles cut a large budded Birch branch and pot it for an Easter Tree. They hang decorated eggs from a Birch branch durung Lenten season ushering in Easter.
we do the same in Norway.
@@bushcraft_in_the_north And in northern Germany.
Great video, but a bit of a missed opportunity to discuss the importance and utility of the birch for the Anishinaabe people. They imagined so many brilliant ways to use this wonderful tree.
There's a guy on You Tube who makes birch oil with a dual drip can system under his campfire . He says it's great for skin ailments, cuts etc. I also tincture that birch polypore shroom and add it to my morning coffee, along with Chaga. It's medicinal properties are quite close to Chaga. I burn it for incense too.
Yellow birch is the provincial tree of Quebec. We used it to get water in spring, it's not sweet but is good to wash dishes. I don't know if it's poisonous but the bark smells like comfrey. (wouldn't you know it, there is a suggested video of how to tap birch sap) Surprised to see the Jonas in this video. I use some of his videos for my uni classes in Japan.
I live in Japan and have tapped birch for water. It's sweet when tapped in the early spring, but it didn't suit my system. It made me feel edgy, like a had an allergic reaction.
I love the Haley-StoneAgeMan connection. The children are adorable, too.
:) Totally agree Tom. ;)
Thanks Tom. Whoop! The whole thing is basically what we do as a family and it's fun to get this stuff out each week!
Cute
Birch is the most used wood in professional drum building. That and maple, but maple is considered to be more "high end" despite both of them being very close in hardness on the Janka scale.
Are you an Old Owl ?
They grow above the 60th parallel and in the fall when the leaves go gold they slowly close off the day with flaming glory.
You are actually one of the few I have seen who ever mentioned the peel of birchbark as a fire starter. My dad thaught me one time as a kid that it would take fire even if it was wet. As an adult that piece of knowledge pretty much saved me and my friends lives when we sunk with a canoe in a very cold rapid river in the middle of nowhere, got totally soaking wet in a cold weather with rainfall for days making everything wet and pretty much impossible to get a fire going to warm us up. After many failed attempts at a fire I suddenly remember those words said some 20 years earlier and got a fire going despite the odds all thanks to the birch bark peel off. So yea; a real piece of gold nugget info you shared with the world there :-)
I live in Birch Run Michigan on Birch Run Rd. I am surrounded by these majestic trees. Multiple varieties and the white Birch is like a chameleon in different seasons and sunlight and sunsets. Golden leaves in fall. I have always been intrigued by these beauties since childhood. My wife was always curious why I would keep Birch separate from others in the firewood pile and only Birch on the hearth next to the fireplace. I used all other hardwoods in the air tight wood burner for heating with. The beautiful colors of flames from Birch really add to the beauty of a fire in the fireplace. I love Birch trees
Hi I live south of Saginaw a few miles.Never realize birch wood puts out colorful flames.
@@tomparth3398 Tom try some you'll see all different colors.
@@frankdillingsly3580Where ya from ? 😁
Wow, a biologist walking, observing & talking to us about biology, how novel! I LOVE IT! As a consumer I suggested a similar approach to the Wisconsin DNR (forest studies branch) this late summer, hope it didn't fall on deaf ears - because - what you do - WORKS! Very engaging. Many thanks. (Love Love Love the birch.)
Some Birch trees have eyes 👀 . Try hugging one and feel the energy it gives off. Beautiful 🌍. And amanita muscaria like birch trees 🍄😍. Cool video bro
If a biologist, you should know that pulling birch bark off trees can kill them. Only pull the loose outer bark and do not strip to the dark inner bark. Birch bark has a flammable oil that that will light when wet. Paper birch bark was used to make canoes and baskets by Native Americans. Sinch paper birch wood does not stain, it is used to make thread spools and popsicles. Birch is used to make birch beer (similar to root beer) and birch syrup (similar to maple syrup). Yellow birch wood is sold as Philippine mahogany. Black birch, which grows from Georgia to Ontario, is prized as a hot burning firewood.
In drought condition, birch can actually move towards water. They don't "walk". Their roots pull them along, up to 10m a year.
Wut? Seriously?
@@uptoolate2793 ......... YES --- VERY SERIOUSLY --- Birch is not the only plant that does so .........
@@uptoolate2793 No. Just stupid bs🐂💩.
I saw this too in the Lord of the Rings...teasing. I'm open to this idea...would love to see a time lapse .
This might be related: I know around here a few guys told the police the tree jumped out in front of them.
Love the tree they also are the tree you can find CHAGA on which is the king of medical mushroom also a good fire starter looks like black bark burl
Chaga apparently does grow on other kinds of trees but it’s only supposed to be consumed if it’s taken from the Birch.
Birch sap drink. Very popular in Eastern Europe. We just had some that we bought at our local Ukrainian butcher shop in NYC.
That last tree from whence you picked the fire-starter fungus was in fact a poplar... birch polypore is medicinal, and grows flat-side down. On birch trees. The crenulated bark on the mature aspen (poplar) along with the flat-top configuration of the fungus gave it away.
I'm fascinated with birch as well, noticing how many we have on our land here in northern Wisconsin coming up along with red maples in the new forest, as the northern pin oaks die out, part of forest succession. It's remarkable to see them in the sandy podzolic soil, where normally they're in the wetlands. Thanks for showing the full extent of their range, and the Segway from Scandinavia! We have one yellow birch on the farm where the seepage springs are, a fun minty treat to chew on!!🌿🍂🌱
Great video! I have a silver birch in my yard. Never thought to taste it. Will have to give it a try. Enjoyed listening to you on the wildlife filmmaking podcast the other day too!
Small note - only certain birches have methyl salicylate (Known as the Wintergreen oil birches). Those are Sweet birch, yellow birch, south China Birch, Caucasian birch, hazel-leaf birch and Japanese cherry birch. The silver birch is actually not one, but you can still make stuff from the sap!
I have been studying various trees and plants in my area for their uses. This helps me a lot. There are many birch trees in Georgia.
My friend will be publishing a major book on Georgia next year. I think I'm doing the cover.
There's a movie called 'the Way back' . At the start of WW2 the Russians ship a Polish prisoner to a gulag in Siberia. Our hero named Janusz, organizes an escape. He chooses the time to escape during a snowstorm. While escaping his compatriots are complaining that the snowstorm is blinding them. Our hero , who spent most of his life in the forests, uses a knife to peel off the bark of a FALLEN Birch tree to make masks so they can continue their escape. It's based on a book called 'The Long Walk', where a group of Polish prisoners escaped and walked 4000 miles to India and freedom.
Tip if you, being a biologist, want to educate more people: put the scientific name of the species on your video or in the descriptions below it. So the rest of the world will know what you are talking about. Because in every language, or even local dialects, there are all kind of names used.
over the last two decades I taught tree and animal identification and woodsmanship with the Scouts and the Birch always produced the most comments and interest. Also taught Totin-Chit and Firemen_Chit (Birch bark)
I was born and raised in Russia. Birch tree was one of the most widespread trees across Central Russia. They are considered the national symbol of Russia. I believe Birch trees are also part of Russian folklore and mythology.
Beautiful. And you are too.
Wasn’t the USSR foreign currency shops called “the little birch tree” ?
I lived in Saint Petersburg for 2 years and fell in love with this tree…. Never knew wintergreen and chaga are from them
And northern Canada.
The only tree to survive the great smog of London in 1952..All other trees chocked to death as the bark was completely covered with dust/ airborne pollutants Its ability to constantly she'd it's top layer of bark meant pollutants were always she'd to..
Thanks for the video. I used to work ion the woods, Forest Service, Superior National Forest, LaCroix District. Was in the woods many winter days and used birch bark to start our lunch fires. Lots of time on snowshoes. Great memories.
Also, "stone age man" would roast Birch back to extract a tar that was used as a glue.
So much more educational than the usual drivel here. Thank you brother, I hope people take time to explore some caves while they are out appreciating nature too!
As a stone age man I thought you'd mention that pitch from birch trees was used as a glue to attach flint heads to arrows and spears when binding them with sinew. Also Birch water is a thing.
Wintergreen oil can loosens bolts. Set it on the bolthead or but and wait an hour.
we have paper birches all over my area in Maryland. I dont know if they were originally planted as a ornamental tree but they seem to be concentrated near streams by my house in the woods
I have planted a very young birch tree about 30 years ago or so the neighbors have always love how straight the tree has grown over the years. I have enjoyed the very fresh smells of the birch tree mostly and have used to adorn the home seasons as they occur. Love the different colors the year brings that only a true birch can offer.. I was told by a professional arbors that they should be planted in a triangle grove and not just a single tree. Yet my single tree has grown straight to about 60 feet in height. Each year it has a small crop of truffles at the base.
My grandfather used to go with his father on botany walks every Sunday growing up in Indiana. He taught quite a bit to my father who in turn tried to teach me a little as well. I grew up to be a nurse, but I know I'd enjoy botany more 😆 Last year, my husband and I bought my grandfather's mountain cabin in WNC and now I get to take my boys on botany walks too! We forage for mushrooms and use plants as medicine. It makes for the most amazing vacations and learning experiences. Thanks for sharing your videos! They make it so I can follow along in ways I just can't do with Google Lense :) It's good to see other families out learning together as well!
Minecraft birch Camman18: angry 😠😡 Real life birches:👁️👄👁️❤️
Great video and very good information. Super beautiful family adds so much more to the production. You are a very lucky man and I thank you for letting us observe your passion.
The Icelandic word for birch is Björk.
Birch is my favorite tree. Love it. Beautiful. And great in the woodstove, smells good, and the bark is a great fire starter.
Euell Gibbons wrote a number of books about foraging for food in the wild. He told of a young exchange student that he was showing around. He had her taste a wintergreen plant, which is a small plant that grows on the forest floor. Then, he had her taste a black birch. She said "Oh! It's that American flavor. You have it in toothpaste and drinks and candy, and now I see you have it in your plants and trees!" OK, I'm sure that I didn't remember the quote exactly, but that is the gist.
This guy is underrated af.
;) Hah. Just going through all the comments this morning. I'll take comments like yours any day. Thanks bud.
Nail on the head. Only 1.1k ups? "C'mon man!"
Agreed!
@@UntamedScience have you heard of a book called Alpha Unplugged?
This is giving me Wanderlust
One of my favorite trees 💖... Although, I have a great love for all trees... From the giant sequoia to the willows... Eucalyptus leaves smoke drives mosquitoes away...
Ever walk through a birch forest in the dead of winter. Beautiful.
Birch trees are a very cool tree!! I love trees, they are my passion. Loved this video!! New facts I never knew
Why do trees hate riddles? Because it's too easy to get stumped!
;) Hah.
Why did the tree get stumped? It couldn't get to the root of the problem!
Amadou used to be used for drying flies when flyfishing too.
I grew 3 birch trees from seed that I'd collected, I harvest the catkins and keep the scales for miniature leaves to sell to model makers and wargame collectors
I've always known them as Silver Birch. Thery are everywhere where I live. I love their stunning looks. I also love the smell of Eucalyliptus trees the one in my old garden was massive it has a lovely smooth bark and when you crush the fallen seeds in your hand the smell is wonderful.
We always refer to them as silver birch in the UK. They are a very popular garden planting here but people don't always appreciate the height they can reach.
Great video, Rob! I had no idea there were so many species of birch!
Honestly, I didn't know either until I started digging into it a bit more. I guess that's why I love doing videos like this! I hope you're well Miles. Enjoying your content these days too!
This is probably one of my favourite youtube videos, especially the part about teaching others about trees. I definetly can relate!
That book title sounds like fun -and hearing getting back in the forests gets us in touch with ourselves is a comforting reminder
😎✌️
Here in north Arkansas; and probably in other parts as well, we have a lot of Sycamore trees and they have a white bark that peels off in irregular patches and which leaves a real smooth trunk. I think they are real neat looking trees.
They can be tapped for drinking water just like the birch trees.
@@georgesakellaropoulos8162 I didn't know that about the Sycamore tree...thanks..!!
@@marbleman52 You don't want to do it in chemically polluted areas, but water tables with pathogens are okay, the tree will filter them out. The same is true for salt, water from the tree will be fresh.
@@georgesakellaropoulos8162 ...I am very fortunate that here in north central Arkansas, which is almost entirely rural, the environment is clean & healthy; not perfect, of course, but it's in real good shape. We have lots of frogs and Dragon Flies in and around all of the ponds here and supposedly frogs & Dragon Flies are good indicators of a healthy environment. So I would expect that if I tapped a Sycamore tree for water that it would be safe to drink.
Love your work, and your family! Great knowledge and enjoy the content.
Ah. Thank you!
Every camper, hiker, and outdoors people need to be able to identify Birch. Lightening will NOT strike a birch. My Grandpa was a logger and he said if I'm ever out in a storm find the nearest Birch tree and stick with it, until the storm passes.
I’ve just found your channel. Very fascinating thanks. I look forward to more videos and looking back at past videos.
I used burn paper birch in my wood stove un northern Idaho.It's valued for long burning and value of a lot of heat.
Great video 🙂 Could you do some videos on why certain plants are the way they are? For example, birch trees are quite flammable because of their oils and they're bark is weak compared to other trees - I'd like to know how those things can be advantages, when on the face of it, they seem like disadvantages. Thanks!
These trees should never n be planted next to driveways or sidewalks in landscaping. Their sap drips and make a sticky mess ON vehicles and ruin the finishes; on sidewalks the sap is walked on and carried into the house on shoes.
@@brendastolecki4755 You should be thankful about every tree in this world no matter where it is. Just park your car somewhere else and walk during the three weeks while the trees are dripping. Your legs are created for walking and not for stepping on gas and brake in a car. Trees belong in this world, cars not so much.
@@doroparker1702 excuse me, it just occurred to me that you may live in country/farming area and may have never been to a city where there is housing or condominiums with tiny little yards, narrow drives for vehicles. You may be unaware what landscaping is. Many times there is NO WHERE ELSE to park. You just would not plant the trees where they would hang over sidewalks and driveways.
Birch trees are one of my favorites, thanks for sharing this.
In India we call it _būrja_ (yes, it's an indo-european cognate to the english word). It grows in the Himalayas and the bark was used like paper to write ancient Sanskrit texts.
Great Vlog. I love The Birch' such a graceful and delicate tree. with as you rightly say, some wonderful qualities. I have a couple of 10" by 8" sheets of Himalayan birch. pure white that I hope to use one day for letter writing, once i've mastered my calligraphy. Great family you have. Greetings from Liverpool. ✌️🐝
Thanks for that kind note Jonathan! I would love to get ahold of some birch sheets for that purpose too. Every time I do one of these videos I have a new found appreciation of whatever species I'm looking at! ;)
I learned that Salix is the genus of plants that includes the Willow Tree, and was a traditional medicine. This was supposed to be the root for acetyi(salic) acid. My Mom grew up in the Midwest, but I grew up in Nevada. The mountain forests out here are populated mainly by Conifers and Oak, but also beautiful Golden Aspen, which has a similar white bark. I never convinced Mom that Aspen are not Birch. I'm not sure if Birch even grow in Nevada.
Yes, salycins are named for Salix, Willow. They are found in several plants and trees.
I planted white willow for the "traditional medicine" reason. Aspirin works for me. We have native red willow down by the creek, but I wasn't sure about the salicin content. We also have a nice stand of quaking Aspen down by the creek (and major groves of them) not far above us in the mountains), but doubted someone's claim that it contains a usable quantity of pain reliever. Unfortunately, there are no birch here in southern Colorado that I've found, or research suggests. I'm a big chaga fan. It grows on birch, and might be the most medicinal mushroom.
I've heard Bear Grylls tall about chaga also being another great fire starter that burns for a long time as well... maybe somehow correlates w it growing on birch/extracting some of its useful properties (?)
@@jamootoo5200 It’s got many medicinal uses, and is good fire starter. It’s more valuable as a drink though. It does grow on other trees but it’s said that you should only consume the chaga from a Birch tree. If you look online, it’s very expensive.
I live in a deciduous tree zone with the occasional conifer. Birch are rather sparce here. We mostly have Tulip Poplars, Black Walnut, Redbud, Dogwood, Maple, Oak, and Black Locust trees. I've spent most of my life in forested areas so I have learned to identify most of my local species. I like to look for edible wild plants as well. Morel mushrooms are awesome! I have a small mini orchard in my back yard too. I even have a couple of native Paw Paws in my front yard. Pretty trees they are. You could say I'm a tree fan! (Oh, I forgot about the 4 American Hazelnut shrubs I recently planted-lol)
0:06 - 0:09 Boy is that shot BEAUTIFUL! Been in the South West for a minute. Miss the snow...
Nice informative video. It really is a shame that many children have wasted brains that are full of video game knowledge that has no use in the real world. Having said that one could also say knowledge of trees is also wasted brain space in the modern world. I'm in the latter category and wouldn't have it any other way..
Great video! Query: In Australia we have the introduced variety from Europe, namely Silver Birch. Any advice as to whether it has similar qualities to the North American varieties you mention? Not even sure if they are even related.
They are closely related but have some differences. I don’t remember clearly anymore so I’d better not say more than that. Lol
I play a Birch Tama drum kit. Sounds incredible!
When wild camping, first thing I do is start collecting the best pieces of birch bark ready for starting the camp fire later that night. The best thing about it is that you can scratch the surface of the bark with a knife and the dust that comes off will catch a spark from a ferro rod or fire steel very nicely.
more botany videos!!! pLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me identify a pine tree outside my window! i have many tree books and i can't tell which one it is
thanks for these super educational and enlightening video!!! i take walks everyday and it's been so fun to add to my knowledge about individual plants, esp how you add specific facts/history about them. you're such an underrated channel i'll def subscribe :)
Watching this in May makes me want the winter wonderland back. But not having sun in May makes me feel otherwise again. Either way I am not outside much anyway :( The first few second looked special color wise and it's great to have Jonas show up.
Thank you! Love the helps on tree identification and also enjoy when you show flower identification (daffodils) :)
This is VERY Cool!! Thanks for this video!
As a tree lover, this was very interesting... hope the boys will be drawn more to empathy in nature than video games which have negatively impacted an entire generation...
I have 1000 in my backyard 😂
absolutely love this topic. We lost our last birch in our yard. I always wanted to learn how to grow them.
Silver Birch (Betula pendula) is beloved of UK Forest School Leaders who have it on their sites. A great resource for so many practical, educational and creative activities. But for the actual management of the woodlands used it can be a bit of a bugger in high winds though, it's one of our 'widow makers'. I have a beauty about 40 metres from my front windows and after any big storm winds rip through, it's the first thing I check is still ok. Such a lovely tree at any time of year, even if its seeds turn up everywhere indoors!