Silver Birch Tree Facts and Information

  • Latin name: Betula pendula
  • Native words: Old Irish (), Scots Gaelic (beithe), Old English (birce), Welsh (bedwen), Eastern Celtic ()
  • Ogham sign: B
  • Height when mature: 33m / 105 ft
  • Height after 10 years: 5–6m / 16–20 ft

Silver Birch Tree Leaf

Silver Birch Botanical Description

Silver Birch Trees are fast-growing and attractive. Their pale trunks are marked with black, diamond-shaped fissures that deepen as the white bark matures. Young bark may appear reddish.

Birch is a pioneer species, often colonising old industrial sites and wet boggy ground. It's short-lived (40–60 years) but dramatic in all seasons: red-purple buds produce bright green arrowhead-shaped leaves in April; by autumn, the leaves turn golden-yellow with flame-like vibrancy.

Being monoecious, birch produces both male (yellow, hanging in pairs) and female (shorter, green) catkins on the same tree.

Birch supports large bracket fungi (Polypores) and thrives in Caledonian forests alongside Scots Pine — both are Britain’s oldest native trees post-Ice Age. The other native birch is Downy Birch (Betula pubescens).

Many urban areas plant exotic birches like the Himalayan Paper Birch (Betula utilis), which peels in strips. Learn more from our Silver Birch YouTube video.

Silver Birch Natural History and Ancient Wisdom

In Scottish folklore, birch boughs were hung above cradles to ward off fairies. In Wales, birch symbolised love. In Siberia, tribes used the bark for containers and tinder, cutting signs into the trunks as living messages. The name "birch" likely derives from Sanskrit "bhurga" — "tree whose bark is used to write upon."

Birch is Finland’s national tree. Across Northern Europe, birch sap is harvested during a single month each year to make birch beer, water, or juice — fresh or fermented.

In the Celtic Tree Calendar, Birch represents the first lunar month (Dec 24–Jan 20) and symbolises growth, rebirth, and ambition. Read more on birch symbolism and meaning.

Silver Birch Sapling in a Box

Silver Birch Place Names in the UK

  • Birkenhead (Wirral) – "headland where birch grows"
  • Birchwood (Cheshire)
  • Berkesdon (Hertfordshire) – "birch valley"
  • Birkdale (Lancashire) – "birch valley"
  • Birchington (Kent)
  • Much & Little Birch (Herefordshire)
  • Birchanger (Essex) – "birch wood on a slope"

Silver Birch Wildlife Rating

Excellent. Silver Birch supports hundreds of insect species, including Camberwell Beauty butterflies and Kentish Glory and Lobster moths.

It’s a nesting favourite for the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a source of caterpillars in spring. In winter, Siskins eat its seeds. Fly Agaric fungi (red cap with white dots) grow beneath birches—even in gardens.

Silver Birch Tree Good / Bad Points

  • Fast-growing and easy to establish.
  • Light canopy allows sun through — ideal for underplanting.
  • Attractive bark and golden autumn foliage.
  • Tolerates heavy, damp soils (but prefers well-drained).
  • Suited to any garden size or rapid woodland creation.
  • Prolific seeder — can self-seed throughout the garden.

Send a Silver Birch Tree

Ever considered gifting a tree? Tree2mydoor has been delivering tree gifts across the UK for over 20 years.

The Silver Birch Tree Gift is one of our bestsellers and makes a meaningful 25th wedding anniversary gift. Explore more sapling options in our Celtic Tree Calendar collection.