Weekly ViewMarch is here so Spring is knocking,& for one of my favourite Trees in Swanhole Lakes Nature Reserve it's nearly time for it's SAP to start rising, in the next week or two the sap will rise ready for "Tapping".
Silver Birch (Betula pendula)
Ribbon Tree (Lincolnshire)
Beith (Gaelic and Old Irish) Begh (Irish) Paper Birch (Wiltshire)
The name Betula is the family name that the Birch belongs to, along with Hornbeam and Hazel, the Latin name pendula for the Silver Birch means ‘drooping branches’.
In botanical terms the Birch is referred to as a pioneer species. When the glaciers of the last ice aged receded they say the birch tree would of been one of the first to colonise & in Celtic mythology the Birch came to symbolise renewal and purification.
Birch trees are MONOECIOUS, which means they have both male and female flowers with pollination achieved by the wind. The male flower or catkin is drooping whilst the female flower or catkin is upright.
The leaves are diuretic and antiseptic and an effective remedy for cystitis and other urinary tract infections. They were also used to dissolve kidney stones and relieve rheumatism and gout. The sap (as wine or cordial) similarly prevents kidney and bladder stones, treats rheumatism and can be used to treat skin complaints.Although collecting the sap is made difficult as there is a two week window in early March when the sap can be gathered.The bark is said to ease muscle pain if applied externally placing the internal part of the bark against the skin.Birch leaves are effective in lowering blood pressure and an infusion of birch leaves will cool a fever and therefore aid the symptoms of the common cold.
The twigs can be bound together to make besoms, which are traditional brooms and reputedly flown by witches! Also, the bark is waterproof and is therefore used in tanning including the production of birch tar used to make leather waterproof. Charcoal made from the Silver birch was used as gunpowder.
The thin, papery bark sheds in strips and some find the temptation to peel a piece off irresistible & it makes superb Tinder.
Less pleasant, ‘the Birch’ was used in many schools to beat children!
its branches are also used to beat oneself in saunas as a means of stimulating the skin.
Silver birch is known as the “Lady of the woods, The Tree of Life,The Mother Tree”.It is thought to be constant and friendly – a tree of enchantment.
Birch, the tree of Venus,
Birch is believed to protect against evil spirits and the evil eye but it also symbolises love and fertility.It is said that to see green Birch in a dream was an omen of illness but to see two birches growing together with briars on the grave of two lovers indicated that death had not divided them
In medieval times, a bundle of birch twigs was carried by the local magistrate on his way to court as a symbol of his authority and as a means of correction. The use of the birch as a punishment probably originates in the need to drive out evil spirits.
A festival with the Birch at its center is that of Mayday, where the traditional Maypole is made of Birch, taken from the woodland at the break of day and danced around in another fertility ritual,
The Birch is also connected to the fly agaric mushroom, the preferred ‘shroom’ of the Shaman, with the fungus fly agaric found predominantly in Britain growing beneath a Birch tree, while the fungus helps soil nutrients be absorbed by the tree's roots, it also takes sugars from the tree in return.. A fungus also found growing mainly on dead or dying Birch is that of ‘Witches Bracket’ (Piptoporus betulinus), which, when dried, makes an excellent firelighter.
Birch wood burns quickly and hot and emits a beautiful smell.
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