Yellow birch

The inner bark of yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) smells and tastes like wintergreen, as do the leaves and fruits of teaberry (Gaultheria procumbens) and creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula), which were each featured in last week's WPC Daily. Black birch (Betula lenta) also shares this feature. Although Betula is not closely related to Gaultheria, the wintergreen flavor comes from the same chemical, methyl salicylate, which is now synthesized to provide much of the commercial wintergreen flavoring.

With its distinctive peeling bark, yellow birch is one of the easiest trees to identify in winter. Look for it in northern counties or in cool moist forest of more southern counties, such as the recently featured Audubon Society natural area, Todd Sanctuary, in southeastern Butler County.

Photo coutesy of Darren Kimmbler, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's botanical image collection.

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