The Life of a White Birch

Flowers

• The life of a white birch tree starts from seed in its native habitat. A white birch blooms during early spring with separate male and female flowers. The male flowers are drooping, 3- to 4-inch-long catkins and the female flowers are clusters of 1-inch-long cones. The fruit appears in the form of winged, ½-inch nutlets that are fully ripe by September. These are the seed that start to disperse easily with the wind.

Seeds

• A single healthy birch tree produces 15 million to 17 million seeds every year, according to tree consultant Peter Gosling. Over the course of its lifetime, every birch produces 300 million to 2.25 billion seeds. Birch seeds are light, and the small winglike structures at their sides carry them through the air. Dainty birch seed have minimal food storage and need adequate sun to grow well. A healthy white birch starts to produce seed when it is about 15 years old.

Saplings

• Birch seed start to grow when they have enough sunlight. Growth begins as the seed starts to metabolize or process food from its cotyledon -- the tiny plant embryo contained within each seed. This transfers energy to the developing root system below the ground and the stems appearing above ground. As the roots anchor the tiny seedlings, the cotyledon leaves the seed and expands into flat, green leaves. Birch saplings grow quickly in areas of full sun.

Mature Trees

• A mature white birch tree has a height of 50 to 70 feet with distinctly white, paperlike, horizontally peeling bark. The toothed, ovate, 2- to 3-inch-long foliage is deciduous and dark green, assuming shades of orange and yellow in fall. It's common to find white birch trees that grow as tall as 100 feet in their natural habitat.