Edible Parts: Flowers  Inner bark  Leaves  Sap
Edible Uses: Condiment

Young leaves and catkins - raw[172]. The buds and twigs are used as a flavouring in stews[172]. Inner bark - raw or cooked. Best in the spring[172]. Inner bark can be dried, ground into a meal and used as a thickener in soups, or be added to flour when making bread, biscuits etc. Inner bark is generally only seen as a famine food, used when other forms of starch are not available or are in short supply[K]. Sap - raw or cooked[172]. The sap can be used as a refreshing drink or beer, it can also be concentrated into a syrup by boiling off much of the water[K]. Harvested in spring, the flow is best on a sunny day following a frost. An old English recipe for the beer is as follows:- "To every Gallon of Birch-water put a quart of Honey, well stirr'd together; then boil it almost an hour with a few Cloves, and a little Limon-peel, keeping it well scumm'd. When it is sufficiently boil'd, and become cold, add to it three or four Spoonfuls of good Ale to make it work...and when the Test begins to settle, bottle it up . . . it is gentle, and very harmless in operation within the body, and exceedingly sharpens the Appetite, being drunk ante pastum."[269].

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Abortifacient  Antirheumatic  Antiseborrheic  Astringent  Lithontripic  Salve  Sedative  Urinary


The bark is antirheumatic, astringent, lithontripic, salve and sedative[172]. A decoction of the flowers and leaves has been used as an abortifacient[257]. The German Commission E Monographs, a therapeutic guide to herbal medicine, approve Betula species for infections of the urinary tract, kidney and bladder stones, rheumatism (see [302] for critics of commission E).

Containers  Hair  Waterproofing

An infusion of the plant is used as a hair conditioner and dandruff treatment[172]. The thin outer bark is waterproof and has been used as the cladding on canoes and dwellings, and also to make containers[257]. A brown dye is obtained from the inner bark[257]. Wood - close-grained, soft but strong[82]. Trees do not grow large enough to be of use for lumber, but the wood is used locally for fence posts[229] and is also a good fuel[172]. The bark can be used as a kindling[172].

Special Uses

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