# River Birch (Betula nigra) > A fast birch for wet ground and southern heat, with salmon to cinnamon bark that peels in papery curls and shows all winter. Also called red birch, Betula rubra. Category: Uncommon Yard Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/river-birch/ ![River birch (Betula nigra) in full summer leaf on a grassy arboretum slope](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/river-birch-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: SEWilco, CC BY-SA 3.0 ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARiver_Birch_Betula_nigra.JPG)* ## Facts - Type: Medium tree - Mature height: 40 to 70 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 9 - Grows wild in: Stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats - Native range: 32 states and the District of Columbia, north to Minnesota, south to Florida and west to Texas (Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia) - Sun: Full, Part - Soil moisture: Average, Wet - Growth rate: Fast - Traits: Winter interest, Tolerates wet soil, Wildlife value, Erosion control - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes River birch is the birch of southern streams and bottomlands, the only one whose range reaches the southeastern Coastal Plain. It often grows on several trunks, and its bark peels in papery sheets of cream, salmon and cinnamon. Unlike the gray, sweet and yellow birches we also grow, it thrives in hot, humid summers. It is also the only birch that ripens its seed in late spring instead of fall. It is planted in streamside buffers to help reduce bank erosion. Plant it on a stream bank, a pond edge or a low, moist lawn, where its bark shows all winter. ## Size, growth and what to expect River birch grows fast, typically 1.5 to 3 feet a year, and about 2.75 feet a year in our growth estimator. Expect 40 to 70 feet with a crown 40 to 60 feet wide, often on several trunks. The largest wild trees reach 100 feet. In dry city sites it may live only 30 to 40 years. Catkins open in early spring, and the seed ripens and falls in May and June. Good seed crops come almost every year, and the seeds are the largest of any birch native to the United States. Grouse, wild turkeys, songbirds and mice eat them. The leaves turn yellow in fall. It grows wild from eastern Texas and southeastern Iowa east to Virginia and northern Florida. Scattered stands follow rivers north to southern Minnesota, central Wisconsin and New England, and New Hampshire lists it as threatened. Its home is stream banks, sandbars and floodplains, where its seedlings come up in thickets on fresh silt. ## How to grow River Birch River birch wants full sun or part shade and a moist, acid soil, and it grows best near water. It takes clay, poor drainage and floods of a few weeks, but not water that stands all summer. Drought makes it drop its leaves, and on alkaline soil the leaves yellow. Its falling twigs clog gutters, so plant it 30 feet from a wall, and set trees 40 feet apart. Keep it more than 50 feet from overhead wires. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and spread mulch over the root zone, clear of the trunk. Pick the cones in May or June, while they are still green enough to hold together. The seed needs no chilling. Sow it at once, or in spring, on the surface of moist soil, barely covered, since light helps it sprout. Water deeply through the first two summers and in dry spells after that, since it needs a moist soil. A thick mulch keeps the roots cool and moist. Deer browse the twigs and leaves, so cage young trees. Prune only in summer or fall, since a birch cut in late winter or spring bleeds sap. Male and female catkins grow on the same tree, and the wind carries the pollen. River birch sets almost no good seed with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings if you want seed. It resists the bronze birch borer, which kills many other birches. Aphids can be bad in early spring, the spongy moth favors its leaves, and leaf miners and leaf spots show up in some years. ## Sources - [USDA Forest Service, Silvics of North America: River Birch, Grelen 1990](https://research.fs.usda.gov/silvics/river-birch) - [USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System: Betula nigra, Coladonato 1993](https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/betnig/all.html) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Betula chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Betula.pdf) - [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Betula nigra](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/betula-nigra/) - [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Betula nigra](https://plantfinder.mobot.org/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=x800) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Betula nigra](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=BENI) - [The Morton Arboretum: River birch](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/river-birch/) - [Missouri Department of Conservation Field Guide: River Birch](https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/river-birch) - [USDA NRCS Plant Guide: River Birch, Betula nigra](https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_beni.pdf) - [USDA NRCS Plant Fact Sheet: River Birch, Betula nigra](https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_beni.pdf) - [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Betula nigra](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500258) - [University of Florida IFAS Extension, ST094: Betula nigra, River Birch](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST094) - [Virginia Cooperative Extension, HORT-23: River Birch, Betula nigra](https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/HORT/HORT-23/HORT-23.html) - [Virginia Tech Dendrology: river birch](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=13) - [Clausen 1966, Studies of compatibility in Betula, USDA Forest Service North Central Forest Experiment Station Research Paper NC-6](https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/14808) - [Go Botany, Native Plant Trust: Betula nigra](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/betula/nigra/) - [New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau: New Hampshire Official Rare Plants List, effective 01/01/2020](https://www.nhdfl.dncr.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt866/files/inline-documents/rare-plant-list.pdf) - [NatureServe Explorer: Betula nigra](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.160835/Betula_nigra) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [Organic or synthetic fertilizer: how they differ and what a tree needs](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/organic-or-synthetic-fertilizer/index.html.md) - [Multistem or single stem? Sometimes the trunk is hiding the answer](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/multistem-or-single-stem/index.html.md) - [Leaf litter, not wood chips, under the canopy](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/leaf-litter-not-wood-chips/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on River Birch, add ?species=river-birch with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=river-birch&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for River Birch](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=river-birch): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=river-birch - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how River Birch is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=river-birch - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what River Birch needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=river-birch:2 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months River Birch flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.