New Hampshire State Tree

New Hampshire State Tree

Paper Birch 

Betulaceae Betula papyrifera

new hampshire state tree
Leaf

Alternate, simple, pinnately veined, ovate in shape, with coarsely doubly
serrate margins, an acute tip and a rounded base.

Flower

Preformed aments, male near the end of the twig in 2’s or 3’s, 3/4 to 1 1/4 inches long. Female flowers are upright, 1 to 1 1/4 inches long. Flowers April to June.

Fruit

Cone-like, cylindrical 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, deciduous at maturity, releasing elliptical 2-winged nutlets. Matures in the autumn disperses over winter.

Twig

Slender, dull red-brown, lacking wintergreen smell when cut. Terminal bud is absent, lateral buds are gummy, chestnut brown in color. Spur shoots present
on older growth.

Bark

Smooth, thin, chalky-to-creamy white; peeling in horizontal papery strips. Brown to black and furrowed at the base. Orange inner bark.

Form

A medium-sized tree with a pyramidal or irregular crown.

new hampshire state tree
Copyright 2019 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental
Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen,
Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag
Handbook 654; range map source information