Gray birch

Gray birches are native to New York and grew on the island of Manhattan prior to European contact. Identified by their white-gray bark with gray “eyes” where old branches met the trunk, it looks similar to the paper birch, but the bark does not peel away from the tree. The Native American Ethnobotany database cites gray birch as a treatment for infected cuts, as the Maliseet and Mi’kmaq made use of it. Additionally, the birch was a lumber source for many Indigenous nations.