White Birch Syn. Paper Birch – Betula Papyrifera: Edible & Medicinal Uses of the Craftiest of Wild Plants

Table of Contents

In Chippewa, wi’gwass’tig, white birch (Betula papyrifera) is not only edible and medicinal, but is traditionally used in many other ways from making canoes to baskets to birch bark biting. I think of it as the craftiest tree!

White Birch - Betula Papyrifera

White Birch – Betula Papyrifera

White birch is sometimes called paper birch or canoe birch after two of its many utilizations.

Edible Uses of White Birch

The twigs and leaves make for tea with a subtle wintergreen flavor (yellow and black birches have a stronger wintergreen taste). I’ve heard of the seedpods and inner bark also being used for tea.

White birch can be tapped like maple, and the sap is about half as sweet as maple. Robin says not to use a store-bought tap but to cut off a branch that’s about 2″ in diameter and hang a bucket from this because, you could say, the birch is a bleeder. Tapping is a wound and you can overdo it and kill the tree. The sap can be boiled down to a syrup or even fermented into a craft beer or vinegar.

An Old Illustration of White Birch - Betula Papyrifera
An Old Illustration of White Birch – Betula Papyrifera

The edible catkins (they have a bitter, piney taste) can be used as a leavening agent.

Chaga and birch (polypore) bracket both grow on white birch and they have edible, medical and other uses of their own. I noticed one of the guys on Life Below Zero harvesting birch bracket to burn to repel mosquitoes – I’ll have to try that!

Sap Rich in Vitamin C

Medicinal Uses of White Birch

White Birch is primarily said to support these body systems:

  • Integumentary
  • Skeletal
  • Urinary

Medicinal tags include Astringent, Cooling, Diaphoretic, and Diuretic. See Medicinal tag key for more information.

Common usage includes boiled inner bark for a skin poultice, sometimes including the leaves. In the mid-90s there was research related to birch bark shrinking melanomas in mice. I wonder what came of that?

Alternative Uses of “Canoe Birch”

The inner bark makes a brownish red dye.

There are countless items traditionally made with white birch, so I scoured YouTube for interesting videos of a few of the most common:


Building a Birch Bark Canoe and Preserving the Ojibwe Language
https://youtu.be/YrrwCj1CdJ4
Denise Lajimodiere Birch Bark Biting
https://youtu.be/8WhTW8wUwrA
Nagaajiwanaang – Jim Northrup shares his art of birch bark basket making
https://youtu.be/HlBuE8CcM_w

Not only do humans have countless uses for white birch, its wild allies include mammals like eastern cottontail, snowshoe hare, eastern chipmunk, red squirrel, beaver, porcupine, white-tailed deer, and moose. Its feathered friends include ruffled grouse, yellow-bellied sapsucker, purple finch and common redpoll; and black-capped chickadee and warblers feed on invasive birch leaf minor larvae.

Growing Betula Papyrifera

If you collect a catkin just before it falls, in late summer, and overwinter the seed in your fridge, you can grow a birch tree from seed yourself. Here’s a WikiHow on the process. They are also available at native plant nurseries. I planted two birches, in the summer of 2021, in the middle-rear of my front window view. I can’t wait until they are bigger and the white bark stands out in contrast to all the green around it. That should happen in 3 years. I got mine from ONPlants.ca.

WARNINGS

Birch water stains.

Tearing the bark off can kill the tree. Please do not cut bark from living trees.

And the Usual Cautions:

1) Most medicinal herbs, if edible, are meant to be eaten in moderation, even sparingly. Some require extra preparation. Tannins are toxic if consumed in excess. Before taking any new supplements, you should consult with a healthcare professional.

2) A vast amount of these herbs are diuretic. (See the Medicinal tags above to check if this featured herb is one of them!) Diuretics are generally safe, but they can be risky for people with other medical conditions or who take certain medications. Please consult your doctor if you have any health conditions.

3) People can be allergic or sensitive to nearly any plant; try new herbs one at a time at your own risk. For instance, saponins commonly cause stomach upset.

4) For serious medicinal use, I must recommend receiving a diagnosis and working with a reputed health care provider. I generally do not post specific treatments and dosages because I think that is best between you and your health care provider, and ideally monitored.

5) Anyone pregnant, nursing, or taking prescription drugs should talk to a health care professional before adding new food items to their diet.

6) Many plants have look-a-likes, and sometimes they are poisonous.

#ads in References

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Every book I reference that is available on Amazon is linked to with an associates link.

REFERENCES

My new favourite foraging book is Sam Thayer’s Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: of Eastern and Central North America (The Sam Thayer’s Field Guides) Paperback – June 1, 2023 and this plant IS featured as one of the edible wild plants in this area. I highly recommend this guide for your bookshelves!

Betula papyrifera Marshall – Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN)

Trees of Ontario

How Indians Use Wild Plants for Food, Medicine & Crafts (Native American)

An Eclectic Guide to Trees East of the Rockies

Field Guide to North American Edible Wild Plants (Out of Print)

Native Plants, Native Healing: Traditional Muskagee Way

The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine

The Herb Book: The Most Complete Catalog of Herbs Ever Published (Dover Cookbooks)

Edible and Medicinal Plants of Canada

Ontario Nature Guide

The Path to Wild Food

Forest Plants of Central Ontario

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