Common Trees Species of the Bruce PeninsulaPART 2

White Birch(Betula papyrifera)

- Also called paper birch, silver birch or canoe birch

- not much more than 16m (50 ft) in height and short lived (less than 150 years)

- grows in wide range of soils and provides prime browse for deer and moose

Yellow Birch(Betula alleghaniensis)

- extensively used for flooring, cabinetry and toothpicks

- provincial tree of Quebec

- Deer, rabbits and beaver feed on this tree

- prefers cool, moist habitats

Trembling Aspen(Populus tremuloides)

- sucession tree, growing in pure stands in open areas - shade intolerant

- smallest of the poplars, characteristic tremble even in slight breeze

Eastern Cottonwood(Populus deltoides)

- fastest growing commercially used tree in North America

- food source for massive Order of Leptidopterans (moths and butterflies)

- can grow 40m in height and loves wet areas like river and stream banks

Jack Pine(Pinus banksiana)

- grows in shallow soils on bedrock (likes alvar)

- heat from alvar surface ‘limestone pavement’ thought to crack open cones for regeneration (usually fire)

- limited to specific alvar conditions on the Peninsula

Tamarack(Larax laracina)

- Also called larch, it has a deciduous habit of colour change and drops its needles all at once

- prefers moist, boggy soils like sphagnum moss and peat beds

- highly intolerant of shade and most commonly growing with black spruce

White Ash(Fraxinus americana)

- very straight growing tree with a natural lifespan of 300 years

- characteristic deeply grooved and regularly patterned bark

- Deer, rabbits and beaver feed on this tree

- prefers cool, moist habitats

Eastern Hophornbeam(Ostrya virginiana)

- Grows well in a variety of soils

- associated with maple-beech-birch climax forests

- an understory tree with nutlets eaten by grouse and rabbits

Eastern White Pine(Pinus strobus)

- soft needles in bunches of 5 and only a few old growth stands left in places like Temagami and Algonquin Park

- tallest tree in eastern NA and provincial tree of Ontario

- largely removed from the Peninsula for timber

Red Pine(Pinus resinosa)

- soft needles in bunches of 2 or 3

- poor cover for animals but provides good nesting sites for many birds

- largely removed from the Peninsula for timber