Plants

Birch

Downy Birch

There are two native species of Birch found in Ireland - the Silver Birch and the more common Downy Birch. The Silver Birch has a leaf with a long, tapered point, the branches tend to droop and the bark of mature trees is more silvery-white in colour than in the downy birch. It has often been planted in parks.

The leaf of the Downy birch lacks the long point of the Silver Birch and the bark is darker, often remaining brownish even when mature, and generally less attractive.

Birch is capable of rapidly colonising cut-over or drained bogs. As a result of extensive turf-cutting and drainage on peatlands across Northern Ireland, birch is found on many bogs.