Useful Nova Scotia Plants

Plants

Birch

Common name

Birch

Latin name

Betula papyrifera

Characters

Paper birch is distinctive in its bark, which is papery and peels off the tree in sheets at wounds. The bark is white with horizontal lenticels marking the surface. Leaves are triangular in outline or widely lanceolate with their edges both lobed and toothed. The leaves generally turn yellow in fall.

Habit

Tree

Edible Portion

Syrup

Habitat

Edges of conifer and mixed forests. Grows in some open canopy.

Geography

Throughout but boreal

Used For

Syrup tapped much as maple syrup and used in cooking

Recipe

See instructions for tapping maple trees

Notes

An Alaskan delicacy it is commonly gathered commercially across the North. More balsamic than maple syrup, its addition to honey to glaze poultry and finfish is superb.
Photo: Marian Munro