If you enjoyed this, please take a look at the other features in my series on British native trees:

Silver birch provides food and habitat for more than 300 insect species – the leaves attracting aphids which provide food for ladybirds and other species further up the food chain. The leaves are also a food plant for the caterpillars of many moths, including the angle-shades, buff tip, pebble hook-tip, and Kentish glory. Birch trees are particularly associated with specific fungi, including fly agaric, woolly milk cap, birch milk cap, birch brittlegill, birch knight, chanterelle and the birch polypore (razor strop). Hi Lizzie, oh dear more to take in, I am becoming obsessed with this blog…. change the word obsessed to fascinated 👍 Ash has so much folklore surrounding it; it’s hard just to focus on a few elements. There is no doubt the tree was held sacred by the people of the UK and beyond. According to Hesiod, the people of the third age of the world (Bronze Age) were born of the Ash tree. Teutonic mythology argues the first people came from the Ash tree with links to Yggdrasil, the world tree, spine of the worlds. Ash and human birth are linked in many ways. In the Highlands, the midwife would make sure the first thing a newborn ate was ash sap. She did this by placing a green ash branch into the fire and letting the sap drip out the other end onto a spoon, feeding it straight away to the bairn just born. Cleene, M. de & Lejeune, M. C. (2002) Compendium of symbolic and ritual plants in Europe. Ghent: Man & Culture.Lykke Double Pointed Needles, BLUSH, Umber, Indigo or Grey CASE, Large Sets of 8 sizes of 5 Needles Each Size A birch rod (often shortened to "birch") is a bundle of leafless twigs bound together to form an implement for administering corporal punishment. The name ‘beith’ survives in an Ayrshire town which bears the name; in fact, it used to be called ‘Hill of Beith’. ‘Beith’ also crops up throughout the highlands – examples are Alltbeithe, Tigh na Beithe and Coire Beithe. In England, Birkenhead and Berkhamstead share the same roots.

As an established family business we pride ourselves in providing a top quality, high value and reliable service and because we supply directly from our production facility in Hampshire our prices are highly competitive. What a great way to use Birch twigs! Sadly I don’t have a Birch tree but what I do have is Wisteria. I use those long bendy stems I have just pruned out to make my Plant protection and supports. They certainly worked for me last year. And it is so nice to see natural materials rather than horrid plastic supports in the gardenDedicated to the moon, or sometimes to both the sun and the moon, because of its iridescent appearance, the peeling curly bark is actually highly flammable and has been used in torches. Thus the birch has long been associated with rituals and beliefs surrounding light. Downy birch provides food and habitat for more than 300 insect species. The leaves attract aphids, providing food for ladybirds and other species further up the food chain. They are also a food plant for the caterpillars of many moths, including the angle-shades, buff tip, pebble hook-tip, and Kentish glory. Birch trees are particularly associated with specific fungi, including fly agaric, woolly milk cap, birch milk cap, birch brittlegill, birch knight, chanterelle and the birch polypore (razor strop). Birch is equally associated with protection and fertility. Today folks still whip themselves with birch twigs after a sauna, some say to increase fertility, others suggest it drives away evil spirits. Roudinesco, Elisabeth. (1992) Madness and Revolution: The Lives and Legends of Theroigne de Mericourt, Verso, p.198. ISBN 0-86091-597-2 Today I gathered some oak twigs and ahorn twigs, the oak I haven’t drank jet, but the ahorn tastes somewhere in between chocolate and coffee.

Always one of the earliest trees to burst into leaf, the birch was considered to be the tree of youth and new beginnings. It was felt that birch rods would drive out the spirit of the old year. In early summer, Beltane fires were kindled from birch and oak, and a birch tree – often living and still rooted in the ground – was sometimes chosen as a maypole. In ancient times, birch bark was often stripped and rolled to make torches and used as a substitute to paper. Birch twigs were also used to make brooms. The bark has been used to make a plethora of things. Sheets of bark were perfect as paper substitutes. Applied to roofs, it provided a level of waterproofing against the rain. You could mould the bark into shoes, or use strips woven together to make baskets for soft fruit. Twigs are drooping and smooth, with dark warts. The shoots of Silver and Downy birch can be used to tell them apart. Silver birch shoots are smooth with warts, whereas those of Downy birch are rough, warty, and covered in short, downy hair. Birching featured in the French Revolution. One leader of the revolution, Anne-Josèphe Théroigne de Méricourt, went mad, ending her days in an asylum after a public birching. On 31 May 1793 the Jacobin women seized her, stripped her naked, and flogged her on the bare bottom in the public garden of the Tuileries. [6]I might try drying them in a fan dehydrator too, and test the difference between dried and roasted. Could experiment with them mixed with other teas. All these species are deciduous; the silver birch may grow up to about 100 feet, while the downy birch may reach 70 feet. The dwarf birch, as its name suggests, hugs the ground at a height of no more than two or three feet, and is often stunted even more by the grazing of hungry deer or sheep. Plant lore is the verdant heart of Scottish folk holidays and traditions. The Yules are no exception, even though at Yuletide the greenery has all but gone, the ground grasped in winter’s frozen embrace. If we look beyond this, nature’s gift and sacrifice is found in the burning heart of Yule – the Yule log of ash or birch.

Beith , M (1995) Healing Threads. Traditional medicine of the highlands and islands. Polygon. Edinburgh. Beaded birch, dark green birch,artificial tree,home Decor , living decor, Sumer birch,tree,wedding ,Christmas, mother’s , birthday gifts... Another factor in the severity of a birch rod is its size—i.e. its length, weight and number of branches. In some penal institutions, several versions were in use, which were often given names. For example, in Dartmoor Prison the device used to punish male offenders above the age of 16—weighing some 16 ounces (450g), and 48 inches (1.2m) long—was known as the senior birch. [ when?] Kermath, BM et al. (2013) Food plants in the americas: a survey of the domesticated, cultivated, and wild plants used for human food in north, central and south america and the caribbean.

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There are two main Birch trees in the UK, the Silver birch Betula pendula and the Downy birch Betula pubescens. The Downy birch tends to grow better in wetter areas and in the north. The Silver birch likes drier soils and is often found growing ornamentally in gardens and cities. The Woodland Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales (No. 294344) and in Scotland (No. SC038885). A non-profit-making company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No. 1982873. Leaves are more or less triangles, with toothed margins. Each leaf is up to 6cm long, and shiny green. In autumn they turn to a bright, pale yellow. History [ edit ] Birching in a women's prison, US (ca. 1890) 1839 caricature by George Cruikshank of a school flogging Edmund Bonner punishing a heretic in Foxe's Book of Martyrs (1563)