The slender beauties of birch, which can be found not only in forests, but also in city parks, on the streets and in squares, were once inspired by the ancient Slavs and druids and were considered sacred. The Birch family includes 6 genera of trees, which are divided into 234 species.
Birch was the most beloved and revered among the peoples of different countries. Poems were dedicated to her, legends were written about her, her healing juices were used and gifts were brought. All trees belonging to the Birch family (representatives - hornbeam, alder, hazel, birch and others) have healing properties that are still used in medicine today.
Birch family
Whoever has ever been to a birch grove knows that the air there is unusually clean. This is due to the fact that the leaves of this tree emit phytoncides - special antibacterial substances that can purify polluted air. This feature was known to people of antiquity, it was also used by modern city planners to clean city streets from exhaust gases. That is why the most common tree in any public park is from the birch family. It also includes:hornbeam, hazel, alder, hop hornbeam and ostriopsis.
The well-known white birch is divided into warty and Fastigiata. The Birch family belongs to deciduous trees, wind-pollinated and monoecious.
Warty birch
Warty drooping birch (Betula verrucosa) grows in Europe, North America, Central Asia and North Africa. This tree reaches 30 m in height and can live up to 120 or even more years. The bark of a young tree is brownish, but by the age of 8 it becomes white. It is for her color that she got her name. Translated from the ancient Celtic betu means "white", so the dye in birch bark is called betulin.
The name of the warty birch was due to the resinous glands located on its branches and looking like small warts. Leaves are what unites the Birch family. The general characteristic concerns, first of all, them. They are double-toothed, alternate, reaching a length of 4 to 7 cm, a width of 2 to 5 cm in most birch species. More often they are smooth or slightly covered with villi, but they are also found with "felt" pubescence.
The root system of the warty birch is powerful, but can be both superficial and deep. Prefers soil that is fertile, fertilized and rich in minerals. This tree blooms from April to May, the fruits (small nuts) ripen in August-September. Propagated by seeds.
Birch Fastigiata
This variety of warty birch differs from it in the structure of the crown. It is narrow and wedge-shaped,and the branches stretch upward, unlike its dangling "relative". With a low height - only 10 m, Fastigiata (Birch family) has a very powerful root system and a wind-resistant trunk.
This tree grows very quickly - up to 40 cm per year, and life expectancy rarely exceeds 100 years. The foliage is the same as that of the warty birch, but lasts much longer, until late autumn. It blooms with small green, irregularly shaped flowers up to 1 cm long.
This tree tolerates both dry summers and cold winters equally well. Natural pests are the May beetle, pipe beetle (beetle), Bucephalus corydalis, birch sapwood and nun silkworm.
Alder
Although alder belongs to the Birch category, the family cannot boast of a more extraordinary tree than this. It is unique in everything:
- Firstly, it blooms first and then leaves.
- Secondly, alder "opens" spring. Its flowering begins when there is still snow on the ground, and heat is only foreseen in the air.
- Third, its leaves do not turn yellow, but fall green in late autumn.
- Fourthly, alder foliage is so filled with nitrogen that it fertilizes the soil on which the tree grows.
Fifth, the unique property of its wood to become harder when exposed to moisture makes it indispensable in the construction of wells and the manufacture of barrels
Although there are up to 50 species of this tree, the mosttwo are widespread - alder black and gray. She received the name black (sticky - the second name) thanks to her trunk, which darkens as it grows older. It is called sticky because of the leaves. Most often grows alone or in a group of the same trees. Black alder begins to bloom in April, and the fruits fully ripen only after a year. Loves light and moisture.
Alder gray has not only a trunk of this color, but also leaves. It is unpretentious, frost-resistant and grows even on poor soil. Since gray alder tends to grow rapidly into impenetrable thickets, it is most often planted to secure the banks and slopes of hollows and ravines.
Hornbeam
The Birch family also includes a hornbeam. China and Asia are considered its homeland. It feels great both in the shade and in the sun, but prefers moist soil, so it needs additional watering in dry summers.
In terms of life expectancy, the hornbeam does not fit into the Birch family, the characteristics of which are generally the same, and the average reaches 100-120 years. The same tree easily lives up to 300 years, growing up to 30 m in height and 8 m in width.
Hornbeam blooms with small male and female inflorescences in the form of earrings, but begins to bear fruit only after 15-20 years. The wood of this tree is used to make furniture and kitchen utensils, but only after special treatment against decay, as it absorbs moisture and quickly deteriorates.
Hazel
The whole birch family,whose representatives bear fruit with nuts, cannot boast of such tasty fruits as those of hazel. Hazel, as people call it, has a leaf shape resembling a bream, for which it was called hazel. They are dark green above and light green below.
Common hazel rarely grows above 7 m, has flowers of two types - male in the form of earrings and female, resembling buds. The fruits of this tree are light brown in color, edible and have both excellent taste and benefits.
Sometimes common hazel is called a hazelnut, but this is not entirely true. The hazelnut is a cultivated variety, and its fruits are much larger and more nutritious.
In total, there are 20 types of hazel in nature, some of which are bushes, while others are tall trees reaching 30 m in height, such as bear nut, growing up to 200 years. And hazel is a multi-leaved - a shrub of the birch family - does not exceed 3 meters in height and gives the same tasty, but not as nutritious fruits as its ordinary variety.
Hmeleghornbeam
This tree is not well known in Europe, as its species grow in North America, Japan, Asia Minor and the Caucasus.
Hmeleghornbeam grows up to 25 m in height, has a tent-shaped crown, brown bark and finely toothed alternate leaves. In nature, there are only 4 types of these trees:
Virga hop hornbeam (American) is found on the streets and parks of Kyiv, Moscow and St. Petersburg, but is the least common of the birch family
- Common hop hornbeam loves heat, so it grows in the Caucasus, the Mediterranean and Asia Minor.
- Japanese - Only found in China and Japan.
- Nolton's hop grows only in North America, not known at all in Europe.
Attempts to grow species of these trees in areas with cold winters have so far been unsuccessful.
Ostriopsis
This is a genus of flowering shrubs native to China and Mongolia. They grow from 3m to 5m in height and come in 2 types:
David's Ostryopsis is a 3 m tall shrub with broad ovate leaves, pubescent shoots and staminate flowers in cylindrical catkins
Ostriopsis noble - has male and female flowers and fruits in the form of small nuts collected in the seed
This plant is not well known in Europe, so you can only see it in his homeland.
