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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

The bounty of the birch

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 11/30/16

I’m always amazed, but no longer surprised, as I learn more about the incredible versatility of the paper birch. Of all the plants in the northwoods, the paper birch, Betula papyrifera, is, without …

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The bounty of the birch

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I’m always amazed, but no longer surprised, as I learn more about the incredible versatility of the paper birch. Of all the plants in the northwoods, the paper birch, Betula papyrifera, is, without doubt, the most useful and beneficial.

When the Ojibwe tell the story of their migration to this region, wild rice plays the central role. But it was the birch tree that really made it possible to harvest and store the wild rice. The wild rice was a staple to be sure, but the birch tree made it possible for early inhabitants to travel by water, it provided the covering for wigwams, it provided medicines and what is still the most effective fire starter you’ll find in the woods today. Even when soaking wet, birch bark burns readily, due to the volatile oils it contains.

And that’s just the bark. The wood itself is just as exceptional. It’s incredibly strong and flexible, making it an ideal wood for the crafting of a bow, and even the arrows and string to go with it. It’s high in heat content, making it nearly the equal of oak in a fire. It’s also a beautiful wood, bright and smooth to the touch.

There are certain things that made life in the boreal forest possible, even comfortable, for the early inhabitants of our region, and the birch tree was unquestionably at the top of that list.

It may be called the “paper” birch, because the bark is as white and easy to write upon as paper, but it’s far tougher than paper. The bark is formed by layer upon layer of thin sheets, which make it possible to remove the bark to a certain depth to meet the needs of the user, without harming the tree (but don’t try it without some experience). The bark is incredibly waterproof, making it an excellent covering for the bottoms of canoes or the roofs and walls of wigwams. In northern regions, like Scandinavia and Russia, where the paper birch is common, the bark was used for centuries to produce baskets, water jugs, backpacks, and even shoes. Because birch bark has antibacterial properties, it was an excellent material for storage containers, since they prevented spoilage.

While many of the items crafted from birch bark were merely practical, and somewhat crude at times, the crafting of birch bark became a fine art in many cases, one that is still practiced today. If you’d like to learn more about the amazing creations possible from birch bark, I highly recommend the book, “Plaited Basketry with Birch Bark,” which includes incredible photographs as well as step-by-step instructions on harvesting, preparing, and weaving with birch bark. Among the most stunning creations are “tues,” which are generally small, watertight containers that are made from intact cylinders of birch bark and were often elaborately decorated.

These folk arts and crafts arrived with many of our early Scandinavian and Finnish immigrants. I still remember attending the auction at the Seitaniemi homestead in Embarrass several years ago and finding a number of birch bark items, including a well-preserved birch backpack.

While the practical day-to-day uses for birch bark are almost endless, both the bark and the tree itself provide many medicinal benefits as well. For centuries, people gathered birch sap in the spring, which is known to provide a number of health benefits, including serving as an effective detoxifier. The leaves of the tree, particularly early in the spring, make a healthful tea that is supposed to be an effective treatment for a long list of ailments, including eczema and psoriasis, gout, rheumatism and arthritis and even kidney stones.

And, as I’ve written previously, the birch tree is also the primary host for the fungus known as chaga, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory and immune system booster, one I use every day. Scientific studies have also confirmed its effectiveness in selectively attacking cancer cells in the laboratory and in animal tests, and a chaga extract has been used for years in many parts of Asia, particularly in Russia, as an anti-cancer drug.

These are all the reasons I’ve come to have such respect for this amazing tree, one that I now try to encourage on my own property. The paper birch has been declining in our region for the past couple decades, apparently due to increasing heat and dryness. Paper birch is a tree of the far north, that can’t survive in warm soil temperatures. Drought and warming tend to heat up the soil and that’s one reason that birch have been struggling in our region in recent years. If you’d like to encourage birch on your own property, look for north-facing slopes or areas where the soil stays moist even in droughty conditions. They don’t tolerate shade, so look for suitable areas that still have birch and keep down competition from other trees to let the birch thrive. With a little forethought, we should be able to maintain this remarkable tree in our region for years to come.