# river birch?



## raybonz (Apr 5, 2010)

A coworker lives on the (in the) water and I stopped by to help him out.. His area got badly flooded and he is pumping 24/7 to save his house.. He was about to burn some birch which was 8" dia. or so and I told him I would take it home and heat my house with it and he was fine with it.. I do not have a pic at the moment but here is a description: bark is papery, it is a silvery brown color, the wood is relatively heavy, it splits easily.. Seems like good firewood and I may get some more.. I researched this and it seems to be a variety called River Birch.. Can anyone tell me the btu value of this wood and/or any experiences with it?

Thanx,
Ray


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## smokinj (Apr 5, 2010)

Thats river birch


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## raybonz (Apr 5, 2010)

smokinjay said:
			
		

> Thats river birch



Thanx Jay would you say it is a decent firewood?

Ray


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## DBoon (Apr 5, 2010)

River Birch would be great to burn - good BTUs.  More than cherry but I don't think as much as hard maple or oak.  

River Birch has a cherry-like hue to the heartwood, only it doesn't get darker with age.  That's a telltale sign that you have River Birch.


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## firefighterjake (Apr 6, 2010)

I'd love to see a picture of this . . . we don't have any river birch up this way . . . white, gray and yellow birch is all I ever see.


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## raybonz (Apr 6, 2010)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> I'd love to see a picture of this . . . we don't have any river birch up this way . . . white, gray and yellow birch is all I ever see.



Here are the pics.. Same bark as white but a different color...



Ray


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## firefighterjake (Apr 7, 2010)

raybonz said:
			
		

> firefighterjake said:
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You sure that is river birch . . . looks an awful lot like the yellow birch I see around here . . . but then again . . . as I said . . . I've never seen any river birch up this away.


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## raybonz (Apr 7, 2010)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> raybonz said:
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I am not sure what variety it is.. Was hoping someone could ID it..

Ray


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## ISeeDeadBTUs (Apr 7, 2010)

I don't THINK it's Black Birch aka River Birch. My guess would be Yellow Birch. But I'm no 'spert :smirk: 

Despite what the BTU charts say, my experiance has been that White 'Paper" Birch and Yellow are both good firewood. The charts say Black is suposed to be great, but I've never burned any.


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## StackedLumber (Apr 7, 2010)

IMHO, my bet is that's yellow birch-no expert here though.  We have some "river" (black) birch trees on the hunting property and they def. don't look like that.  River birch bark is much darker than that.  

Here's a google image of yellow birch-looks pretty close to what you got there:

http://www.qc.ec.gc.ca/faune/imagier/assets/images/db_images/db_bouleau_jaune_155.jpg


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## Lucky Phil (Apr 7, 2010)

Hmmm....there are at least two logs of what looks like white birch a mile down the road from me that the electric company had cut down earlier this year to clear their lines.  The logs are about 20 to 30 feet long and have been trimmed of branches.  The problem is that they are at the bottom of a long roadside 'ditch', and the ground is fairly sandy, though not steep.  I could come in from the north, but I'm sure my two wheel drive Ranger would get stuck.  Wonder if it would be worth the effort  to cut it and haul with a cart about 200' to where I could have my truck parked?  I'll try to get a couple pix after work today.


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## raybonz (Apr 7, 2010)

StackedLumber said:
			
		

> IMHO, my bet is that's yellow birch-no expert here though.  We have some "river" (black) birch trees on the hunting property and they def. don't look like that.  River birch bark is much darker than that.
> 
> Here's a google image of yellow birch-looks pretty close to what you got there:
> 
> http://www.qc.ec.gc.ca/faune/imagier/assets/images/db_images/db_bouleau_jaune_155.jpg



I think you're right it probably is yellow birch.. It should be OK firewood..

Ray


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## FLINT (Apr 8, 2010)

ok, the wood in that picture is definitely NOT river birch.  

also river birch is not the same thing as black birch (although common names do sometimes overlap)

river birch has much more exfoliating type bark - that is a darker reddish brown - sometimes lighter sandy red brown - but always with big papery or slightly chunky flakes sticking out.

black birch grows on drier ridges and has very dark tight bark - black birch is sometimes also called cherry birch.  the twigs have a very strong wintergreen smell when you scrape the bark off.  

the birch in your picture may be yellow birch - yellow birch also has a wintergreen smell to the twigs when scraped but not as strong.

although around here yellow birch grows on the cooler moister ridges - and not down by the rivers.


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## Lucky Phil (Apr 8, 2010)

Now, I'm not so sure that what I've got here is birch?


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## FLINT (Apr 8, 2010)

Phil,

Thats Sycamore - no question


definitely not birch


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## Lucky Phil (Apr 8, 2010)

Thanks for the info, Flint... worth the trouble to get it and burn?


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## Todd (Apr 8, 2010)

Here is a pic of river birch, you have yellow birch which has the same BTU's as red oak, great firewood.

http://www.uwgb.edu/BIODIVERSITY/herbarium/trees/betnig_bark02_web400gf.jpg


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## smokinj (Apr 8, 2010)

this is river birch...atleast where I live


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## FLINT (Apr 8, 2010)

Lucky Phil said:
			
		

> Thanks for the info, Flint... worth the trouble to get it and burn?



don't know.  i've never burned sycamore.  you should start a separate topic asking whether sycamore has much value as firewood.


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## Wood Duck (Apr 9, 2010)

The picture posted by Raybonz is Yellow Birch - great firewood, rigth up there with the best hardwoods. The picture from LuckyPhil is Sycamore - decent firewood. I think almost any wood is worth getting, and this definitely is in my opinion. Todd's picture sure doesn't look like River Birch to me. Either the close up is throwing me off, or it is a misplaced photo. I have seen lots of misidentified photos on websites from botanical gardens, universities, cooperative extensions, and maybe this is another. On the other hand, when I see the a River Birch, it is easy to identify from the very shagggy bark on the smaller trunks and branches, so maybe I don't look closely at the most mature bark. The picture by Smokinjay is clearly River Birch, and matches the photo posted on the UWGB website right next to Todd's picture. What somebody posted previously is right - Black Birch and River Birch aren't the same, even though the scientific name of River Birch is Betula nigra (translates to black birch), while the scientific name of Black birch is Betula lenta (I don't know what lenta means).


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## Todd (Apr 9, 2010)

Here is a pic of a young river birch tree the previous pic was a mature tree.

http://www.uwgb.edu/BIODIVERSITY/herbarium/trees/betnig_bark03_web400gf.jpg


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## DBoon (Apr 10, 2010)

River birch has that flaky reddish brown bark and when split you'll see a very pinkish heartwood - very distinctive.  The picture of the split is not River Birch.


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## fbelec (Apr 10, 2010)

last yellow birch i had when the wood dried it was kind of stringy. very easy to light. i could get a fire going with just a lighter to the stingy wood and poof. great hot fire.


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## firefighterjake (Apr 14, 2010)

Thanks for the pictures of river birch . . . can't say as though I've ever seen any of that growing up this way . . . and based only on these pics I stand by my first suggestion that Ray's wood may in fact be yellow birch.


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## raybonz (Apr 14, 2010)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> Thanks for the pictures of river birch . . . can't say as though I've ever seen any of that growing up this way . . . and based only on these pics I stand by my first suggestion that Ray's wood may in fact be yellow birch.



I agree with you Jake! From what I have read it should be great firewood..

Ray


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