River birch

Like the gray birch, the river birch grew on Manhattan prior to European contact. Known for its distinctive bark, which can range from pink to brown and gray and curls off the tree in thin scales, the river birch is not commonly used for lumber due to its knots, but the sap can be boiled into a sweetener. As its name implies, the birch often grows in wet habitats, such as floodplains and swamps, where waterfowl use the tree as a nesting site and its seeds as a food source.