| a tree, Betula nigra, of the eastern U.S., having papery, reddish-brown bark that peels away. |
| river birch n. A deciduous eastern North American tree (Betula nigra) having reddish-brown to silver-gray bark that peels off in papery flakes. Also called black birch. |
river birch
ornamental tree of the family Betulaceae, found on river and stream banks in the eastern one-third of the United States. Because the lower trunk becomes very dark with age, the tree is sometimes called black birch, a name more properly applied to sweet birch (q.v.).
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