yellow birch

noun

: a large birch (Betula alleghaniensis synonym B. lutea) of chiefly eastern North America with thin lustrous gray or yellow bark forming plates with ragged edges in older trees
also : its strong hard dark brown to reddish-brown wood

Examples of yellow birch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The trees at higher elevations — including yellow birch and mountain maple — will begin to change as early as mid-September, but the most impressive display comes when the sugar maple, scarlet oak, and hickories, among other tree types, hit peak transformation in October. Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 7 Sep. 2024 The council’s first purchase was Cowles Bog—a rare glacial wetland filled with beavers, red maples and yellow birches; a muck of swamp water and marsh plants; blackberries; and, eventually, reintroduced purple orchids—acquired in 1953 for $1,730 (around $20,000 today). Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 July 2024 Bats can be personalized with custom laser engraving, and the company’s pro-model bats are made from hand split maple, ash and yellow birch. Linnea Bailey, Travel + Leisure, 10 Jan. 2024 Outside, a steely sky and yellow birch trees marked a new season. Iris Samuels, Anchorage Daily News, 11 Sep. 2022 The terrain was becoming rockier now, with paper birch and spruce trees replacing the canopy of sugar maples and yellow birch. Emily Pennington, Outside Online, 10 Mar. 2021 The result is a rare blend of hardwoods, such as red oak, sugar maple, and yellow birch, and coniferous species such as red spruce, white pine, and eastern hemlock – 32 varieties in all. Moira Donovan, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Feb. 2022 The snow was cold enough to creak and shiver beneath my skis, and the yellow birch forest strained the morning sunshine into silvered lines of shadow. Washington Post, 13 Jan. 2022 Plan a day hike in Shenandoah National Park or Great Smoky Mountains National Park in October to see some of the brightest crimson maples and yellow birch leaves out there. Outside Online, 8 Nov. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1774, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of yellow birch was in 1774

Dictionary Entries Near yellow birch

Cite this Entry

“Yellow birch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yellow%20birch. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on yellow birch

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!