Water birch tree

Eastern Washington

Water birch is appropriately named as it favors wet ground such as riparian valleys where black cottonwood and willows grow, canyon springs, and streamsides, yet this shrubby tree is tough, able to withstand extremes of heat and cold without a problem.

Water birch grow from Alaska to Arizona including Washington east of the Cascade Mountains, and in remnant natural areas of the semi-arid Columbia basin.

Water birch is an outstanding tree for wildlife, providing winter habitat and a major food source for songbirds and game birds alike. Sharp-tailed grouse, spruce grouse and ruffed grouse eat birch catkins, buds, and seeds along with many other bird species such as redpolls, pine siskin, chickadees, and kinglets. Hummingbirds also feed on the sap of water birch, in holes in the bark pecked by sapsuckers. Water birch is also one of the host plants for the pale tiger swallowtail and Western tiger swallowtail butterflies. For a sense of their habitat value to the state's threatened sharptail grouse, read Washington gifted with grouse in birch trees.

The USDA water birch plant guide (Acrobat file) describes how to propagate and plant Water birch.

Water birch trees - Betula occidentalis

Water birch leaves

© Copyright 2004-2010 All rights reserved
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.
» Interactive Washington map
» Washington State map