Yellow Birch vs Smooth Sumac - TreeTime.ca

Yellow Birch vs Smooth Sumac

Rhus glabra

Betula alleghaniensis

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

Smooth Sumac
Yellow Birch

Smooth Sumac is an excellent shrub for both its ornamental appeal and tolerance of difficult planting sites. You'll love the attractive pyramidal spikes of hairy, red berries that emerge on female plants and the fern-like foliage that covers both male and female varieties.

Ensure you give Smooth Sumac enough space to spread out due to its high suckering nature. While not ideal for small, urban yards, this shrub will make a stunning border along a woodland edge or roadside.

Note:These plants typically reach maturity and make their sex easily known (females producing fruit) in their 3rd or 4th year of growth. Our seedlings are too young to identify their sex.

Yellow Birch is a large and valuable hardwood species in northeastern North America. The bark on its limbs and young trunks is silvery-yellowish in colour, hence the name. This tree prefers to grow in cool regions with damp or saturated soil.

Yellow Birch can be tapped for syrup, like Sugar Maple. Although the sap has less sugar content, it flows in greater quantity than maple trees.

Smooth Sumac Quick Facts

Yellow Birch Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 3a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 18 m (60 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Spread: 11 m (35 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: full sun
Moisture: dry, normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: medium
Life span: medium
Life span: long
Suckering: high
Suckering: low
Maintenance: medium


Foliage: long, thin
Fall colour: scarlet red
Fall colour: bright yellow
Bark: shiny yellow to grey silver peels in curly strips, becomes reddish brown when older
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: yes


Native to: BC, SK, MB, ON
Native to: ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, PE
Other Names: golden birch