Betula lenta
species of plant
Betula lenta (sweet birch, also known as black birch, cherry birch, mahogany birch, or spice birch) is a species of birch native to eastern North America.
Description
Betula lenta is a medium-sized deciduous tree reaching 30 metres (98 ft) tall, exceptionally to 35 m (115 ft) with a trunk up to 60 cm (2 ft) diameter. Heights of 15 m (50 ft) to 24 m (80 ft) are more typical. In younger trees the bark is characteristic of most birches, with smooth bark and distinct horizontal lenticels. It is sometimes mistakenly identified as a cherry tree.
In older tree specimens the bark (unlike the more commonly known birches) develops vertical cracks into irregular scaly plates revealing rough dark brown bark patterns. This, however, only occurs in mature, or ancient, trees and these specimens are not often identified by the public as B. lenta due to the difference between the tree's smooth young bark (which the public is most familiar with) and the tree's rough, cracked and plated mature bark. The twigs, when scraped, have a strong scent of wintergreen due to methyl salicylate, which is produced in the bark.
The leaves are alternate, ovate, 6–15 cm (2.4–5.9 in) long and 4 to 8 cm (1.6–3.1 in) broad, with a finely serrated margin. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins 2.5–3 cm (0.98–1.2 in) long.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Betula lenta” as species of plant. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of plant. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q227763. The Library of Congress control number is sh2016002003. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Betula lenta” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.