Common Birch trees in our area:
Paperbark Birch:
- Deciduous tree, 40-50(70+) ft [12-15(21) m], loosely pyramidal to rounded, several years before lateral branches show chalky-white paper-like bark, peels easily. Leaves simple, alternate, 2-5 in long, rounded or sometimes wedge shaped, glabrous above and pubescent on veins below, coarsely and usually doubly serrate, dull green in summer, yellow in fall.
- Sun. Adapted to a variety of soils, does best in well-drained, acid, moist, sandy or silty loams. Probably best adapted to cold climates.
Common problems with Birch trees in our area:
Insects:
| Aphids | Gypsy Moths | Borers | Scales |
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A sticky glaze of honeydew may collect on lower leaves, outdoor furniture, cars, and other objects below aphid feeding sites. Honeydew coated objects soon become covered by one or more brown fungi known as sooty molds. Crusts of sooty mold are unsightly on man-made objects, and they can interfere with photosynthesis in leaves. |
Eggs are deposited in a mass (100-1,000) in mid-July to mid-August. Larvae hatch in early to mid-May the following spring. Young larvae cause shot hole damage in leaves. Mature larvae in severe infestations can strip foliage from a wide variety of trees. Healthy deciduous trees can enter into a period of decline following consecutive years of defoliation.
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Adults emerge from late May into
June, and leave D-shaped exit holes in the bark. They
feed on leaves for 2 weeks, and then begin to deposit
eggs. Young larvae bore through the bark and excavate
galleries in the phloem. There is one generation a year. |
Scale insects feed on plant sap. They have long,
threadlike mouthparts (stylets) six to eight times
longer than the insect itself. Feeding by scales slowly
reduces plant vigor. Heavily infested plants grow poorly
and may suffer dieback of twigs and branches.
Occasionally, an infested host will be so weakened that
it dies. MORE INFO |
| TREATMENT | TREATMENT | TREATMENT | TREATMENT |
Insects (cont.): Diseases:
| Leafminers | Asian Longhorned Beetle | Anthracnose | |
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Damage to birch trees is done by the larval stage as it feeds between the upper and lower layers of the leaves. This feeding produces large blotch mines in the leaves. Often, several larvae will completely mine a single leaf. Multiple generations and high populations can cause damage to almost every leaf by mid-summer. The mines turn brown and will cause the tree to look dead with wilted brown leaves. This forces the tree to refoliate and reduces its ability to produce food for growth. This damage may also make the trees more susceptible to bronze birch borer attack. Though the adult birch leafminers are related to wasps, they do not have a sting. MORE INFO |
The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) is an exotic pest threatening a wide variety of hardwood trees in North America. Adults are large (0.75 - 1.50 inches long) with very long black and white banded antennae. The body is glossy black with irregular white spots. Adults can be seen from late spring to fall depending on the climate. ALB attacks and kills many hardwood trees, such as maple, elm, horsechestnut, ash, birch, poplar, willow and many more. ALB could significantly disrupt the forest ecosystem if it became established over a large area.
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Anthracnose fungi may cause
defoliation of most maple, oak, elm, walnut, birch,
sycamore, and hickory species and, occasionally, of ash
and linden trees. Damage of this type usually occurs
after unusually cool, wet weather during bud break.
Single attacks are seldom harmful to the tree, but
yearly infections will cause reduced growth and may
predispose the tree to other stresses. On birch, small, irregular, circular, brown spots with dark brown margins are apparent. MORE INFO |
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| TREATMENT | TREATMENT | TREATMENT | TREATMENT |