River Birch

A pretty young and out of place river birch here at our park. The river birch's bark changes as it ages, with the younger trees having almost peeling scales similar to the paper birch of our Northeastern cousins. I'm pretty sure this was planted here for ornamental decor, as while the river birch natural range extends into my area it's the very end of said range. More heat tolerant than its birch cousins, the river birch as per the name, is also more resilient to flood conditions. The river birch is used for reclamation and erosion control, as it tolerates acidic soils that other hardwoods such as hornbeams, alders, and other birches would not. The essential oils in its leaves have antibacterial and insecticidal uses.