Photos of Betula payrifera, White Birch, Paper Birch, Canoe Birch.

Betula papyrifera White Birch, Paper Birch, Canoe Birch. Famous as the material of birch-bark canoes, containers, baskets, and dwelling coverings in its range in North America. The wood was used for shoe lasts, pegs, flooring, and the best and most valuable wood for spools. The tree gets the name“paper birch" because of the use to which the bark was employed by early non-native settlers. Menominee used inner bark tree to treat dysentery. Various Native American groups used twigs or bark as flavoring for other medicines. An infusion of the inner bark as an enema for constipation and with maple sugar to make a syrup for stomach cramps. Inner bark used as survival food. Sap suggested by Colonists against scurvy, as a diuretic and laxative.

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