Grey Birch (Betula populifolia)

Family: Betulaceae | Edibility: Edible (2/5)

Bloom Color: Brown. Main Bloom Time: Early spring, Late spring, Mid spring. Form: Pyramidal, Upright or erect.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Sap/Syrup, Bark/Inner Bark

Harvest Seasons: Spring, Early Summer

Flavor & Culinary Uses

sweet beverage or it can be fermented to make birch beer or vinegar. — Inner bark - cooked or dried and ground into a meal.; The meal can be used as a thickener in soups etc, or be added to flour when making bread, biscuits etc.; Inner bark is generally only seen as a famine food, used when other forms of starch are not available or are in short supply.; Harvested in early spring, before the leaves unfurl, by tapping the trunk.

Habitat & North American Range

Found on the margins of swamps and ponds, it also commonly grows in dry sandy or gravelly barren soils, growing well in poor almost sterile soils. (Zone 3, Zone 4, Zone 5, Zone 6)