People hang out in the park

Parks & Recreation

Paper Birch

Common Name: Paper Birch                     

Scientific Name: Betula papyrifera   

Location: Main Park, near lower play area. Five trees in a row.

Size: Multi-stem

Paper Birch, "Betula papyrifera" location on map

Native to: Northern and Northeastern U.S.

This tree typically grows to: 50-70 feet tall and 25-50 feet wide 

This tree prefers these conditions:  Medium to wet soil; part shade; temperatures not exceeding 75 degrees.

Special about this tree:  

  • Name comes from the tree’s peeling white bark
  • Yellow fall color
  • Seed takes form of catkin
  • Mostly resistant to deer browse
  • Often multi-stemmed
  • Mt. Lebanon’s warm summers and increasingly warm winters place our location on the far southern reaches of this tree’s range
  • Species is recently susceptible to the bronze birch borer