Struggling to know the difference between aspen vs. birch? These beautiful trees are commonly confused, especially in winter, as both lose their leaves and have similar bark markings. Under the right conditions, they can grow to around 70 feet tall. Scroll down to find out more.
noun
Aspen is a common name for Populus trees, including aspen, poplars, and cottonwoods. They are sometimes referred to as aspen poplars, and different types of aspen trees are dotted around the globe. The quaking aspen is the most widely distributed around North America and is a close cousin to the European aspen that grows across Europe, parts of Africa, and Asia. Aspen trees have large heart-shaped leaves with irregular blunt teeth, long stems, and long straight trunks. Immature tree bark is smooth and greenish-white-gray with black markings like knots and scars. Their white bark stays the same color its whole life.
Did you know the aspen poplars are extremely important for wildlife? Beavers eat their bark, leaves, and twigs and use the branches to construct dams. Deer also depend on aspen trees for food, as do rabbits, who eat the bark, seeds, and flower buds. Another animal that uses aspen trees is the yellow-belied sapsucker bird. They hollow out the tree trunk to create nests for their young.
Aspen poplar trees grow quickly. They develop root suckers from the soil, and these suckers populate to grow new trees nearby, creating aspen forests.
The aspen poplar branching pattern creates a tall, narrow landscape of trees, often called a colony of aspens.
Aspen trees are dioecious, meaning their male and female flowers grow on separate trees.
You can spot an aspen poplar by its flattened leaf stalks and its movement in the slightest breeze.
In mythology and symbolism, a crown made of aspen leaves was said to give power and a safe return from the underworld.
For the Celtics, the visual effect of aspen swaying in the wind was said to be the tree communicating between this world and the next.
noun, verb
Birch trees or paper birch are part of the Betulaceae family and are deciduous trees. They are found in countries with temperate climates. They thrive in moist forest floor soil and sunlight and, in good conditions, can live for as long as 200 years. However, the birch's common lifespan is around 40-50 years. There are over 60 species of birch dotted worldwide, and they can be recognized by their papery bark, which peels off in all birches except the gray birch. The bark of birch trees can differ from gray, silver, yellow, white, or black in color. Immature trees have smoother bark, and older plants have deeper horizontal scars on their white trunks.
Did you know that female and male flowers on birch buds bloom on the same tree, unlike aspens? Male flowers, called catkins, come into full bloom in the later summer or fall that persist through winter. In spring, they quadruple in length and droop low from the branches. Female catkins bloom in spring in pairs. Birch leaves are pointy, rounder, and more serrated than aspen leaves.
Paper birch has small black horizontal markings all over its trunk, but unlike the white bark of aspen doesn't have distinct bud scars.
Samara fruit produced by white birch trees releases around one million seeds annually.
Birch is often used as firewood because it burns evenly and quickly.
Indigenous people used white birch bark for constructing strong waterproof canoes, bowls, and wigwams.
Birch sap can be drunk! In fact, in Russia, Northern China, and Northern Europe, it is a traditional drink. The sap can be bottled and used to make birch syrup.
The pollen grains released by gray birch trees are said to be responsible for around 20% of cases of hay fever in the northern hemisphere.
Aspen
Aspen leaves are smaller and have smoother, less obvious heart-shaped serrated leaves. The bark is medium texture and doesn't strip away easily.
Birch
Birch leaves are rounder, longer, and have small serrated edges. All types of birch bark are easily stripped apart from the gray birch.
Bottom Line
Think about where you are. If rocky mountains surround you, then it's likely to be aspen. If you're in a lowland moist forest or floodplain, it's more likely to be a birch tree.
When to use aspen?
When to use birch?
How to remember aspen vs. birch?
Spell checkers don't always have you covered. Sometimes your word might be spelled correctly, but it could be the wrong word. In English, there are lots of confusing terms that look alike but are spelled differently, and many terms that mean the same thing but are easily misused.
Here are the most commonly confusing word pairings, with definitions and examples of their usage.