red birch

[hedgesparrow]

can any one give me any more information on red birch. did not know of it until talking to a coppicer who said use red birch for making broom heads.

does it have a Latin name and were is the best place to look for it.

want to get a copse with it in to make brooms.

[Burgess]

I don't know it's latin name but I think it's also known as a water birch.

[Chris at eden]

Betula albosinensis

[Stephen Blair]

It has the bark you can peel off. Nice trees.

[se7enthdevil]

betula ablosinensis is the chinese red birch but betula occidentalis is also known as red birch (amongst other names) so which did he mean???

[hedgesparrow]

its the one they make bessom brooms from. it grows on scrubland so is cleared to allow other plants to grow. but talking to wildlife groups not heard of it. going to the hands on coppice day tommorow so will find out more. in my ignorance i thought they used silver birch. how wrong you can be and learn more every day i should think its the second one maybe. will find out

[Chris at eden]

Betula as a genera are pioneer species in that they are the trees that colonise baren sites early on the then become shaded out by the larger climax species as part of woodland succession. You would therefore expect to see them in scrub land.

 

albosinensis as the common name suggests is from China. Not aware of occidentalis but the name suggests its from America. Its not surprising that wildlife groups are unaware of these trees as they are ornamentals and not best suited for wildlife. If you want to supply habitat as well as coppice material sitick to native.

[Tim Stobart Tree Surgery]

I thought that traditionally brooms were made of downy or silver birch. Whichever was available. I'll bet it's the American one, and it's come through bushcraft in the states that it's the best birch out there for it!

[se7enthdevil]

does it have to be birch?

 

i would have thought any bunch of twigs that are the right shape would do the job.

 

as neither red birch is native i would go for one you can get on our shores.

[Graham]

I would guess that it refers, not to a particular spp, but the fact that fast growing coppice birch twigs have a reddish tinge.