Karelian birch is famous for its unusual marble texture, mother-of-pearl luster and amber tint of wood. She has long been known outside her homeland and is on a par with rare tropical rocks, which are measured in kilograms rather than cubic meters in trade. The tree is valued not only for its beautiful pattern, but also for durable wood, which is almost not subject to decay, and products made from it can last for centuries.
At the same time, the Karelian birch is completely unsightly in appearance: it has a small height, a bushy shape, characteristic growths and thickenings on the trunk. The tree grows most often singly or in small groups, but never forms thickets.
Most scientists agreed that the Karelian birch phenomenon is not due to belonging to a special species, but to natural anomalies such as mutation. Mostly ordinary birches grow from its seeds, and only 5-7 specimens out of a hundred have signs of a valuable tree. Karelian birch grows slowernormal, and its life span is less than 40 years. Special signs begin to appear in a tree after a couple of decades, before that it is impossible or very difficult to determine that it is Karelian birch.
The tree is distinguished by its amazing wood color from light golden to dark amber and a pattern drawn by nature itself in the form of bizarre dashes, dots and marble overflows. Attention was paid to beautiful and very durable wood even under Catherine II. Since then, the tree has been called "Royal" and has been used to make furniture for the nobility, souvenirs, jewelry, caskets, panels and other handicrafts.
There was a time, at the beginning of the 20th century, when the number of birch began to rapidly decrease due to uncontrolled logging, therefore, starting from the 30s of the last century, they began to breed it in nature reserves, which continues to this day.
Karelian birch furniture has been valued for a long time, and not only for aesthetics, but for warmth and positive energy. It is believed that this is the best material for making furniture. Products that can decorate any interior, in addition, are highly durable and durable. Such furniture was an indispensable element of the estates of the times of Russian classicism. Items of palace furniture of the Alexander era are works of art and are on display in various museums in Russia.
Karelian birch is a very difficult material to process, requiring highly artistic skills from masters. wood todayproduce luxury furniture, souvenirs and various art objects, which are distinguished by a high price. All products made from this wood are handmade and have a unique decor.
Souvenirs of Karelia are, first of all, crafts from the national symbol of the republic - the Karelian birch. These are pens and cases for them, organizers and writing instruments, s alt shakers and spoons, watches and boxes, chess and piggy banks, key rings and flash drives. All these items surprisingly organically fit into modern life.
