Birch Tree Products

Birch has a varied history. Since ancient times, many cultures have used it for writing, building, magic, and disinfecting. 

Birch is native to cold, northern climates like Europe, Northern Asia, and the Americas. It is a soft-wood tree in the Berulaceae family. Young branches are a rich brown or orange brown, with white trunks. The flowers are called catkins and both male and female flowers are present on the same tree.

Native Americans used birch bark in many different ways. To build canoes, wigwams, ritual art, food containers, even clothing. Birch is very aromatic and tastes similar to wintergreen.

Being a soft wood, birch wood is mostly used for products such as broom handles. Birch charcoal is used for gunpowder. Russia uses birch oil to treat leather giving it durability and preventing mold. Therefore, it is often used to bind books. Birch tar oil is a significant Russian industry and is almost identical to wintergreen oil. It is used in photography and prevents bug bites. The inner bark can be ground into flour and was used in times of famine or as a last resort food for survival.

Traditionally known for it's purification properties, this tree is considered sacred in Celtic and Norse mythology. In Finnish saunas and Russian "Banyas", traditional steam baths, bundles of Birch twigs are used on the skin to promote circulation and to symbolise the cleansing and revitalisation that occurs during the bath.

Browse Botanical Remedies Exceptional Quality and Purity Birch Tree botanical products.