WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST?
Yellow birch is a cool tree. It has beautiful yellow or gold papery bark and like black birch, its twigs taste like wintergreen. Yellow birch also has one unique competitive advantage over other trees. It can grow on just about anything. On a steep mountainside–where only small rocks and boulders are found–is yellow birch’s roots straddling for dear life. Yellow birch also can be found along small mountain streams, outstretching its crown over the stream while its roots cling to the streambank’s rocks. John & I found this yellow birch straddling not a rock, but instead a large culvert.
Ryan Trapani
Director of Forest Services
Catskill Forest Association