A series of caches connecting Voluntown to Plainfield. Enjoy a short hike on the well maintained Blue Blaze Hiking Trail System.
While in the area there is also a series of caches in the Plainfield Forest management area.
The name "yellow birch" reflects the color of the tree's bark.
It is a medium-sized, typically single stemmed, reaching 60–80 feet tall (exceptionally to 100 ft with a trunk typically 2–3 ft in diameter. Yellow birch is a relatively long lived birch which typically grows 150 years and may even grow up to 300 in old growth forests.
It mostly reproduces by seed. Mature trees typically start producing seeds at about 40 years but may start as young as 20. The optimum age for seed production is about 70 years. Good seed crops are not produced every year, and tend to be produced in intervals of 1–4 years with the years between good years having little seed production. The seeds germante best on mossy logs, decaying wood or cracks in boulders since they cannot penetrate the leaf litterr layer. Yellow birch saplings will not establish in full shade (under a closed canopy) so they typically need disturbances in a forest in order to establish and grow.
- The bark on mature trees is a shiny yellow-bronze which flakes and peels in fine horizontal strips. The bark often has small black marks and dark horizontal lenticels. After the tree reaches a diameter greater than 1 ft the bark typically stops shredding and reveal a platy outer bark although the thinner branches will still have the shreddy bark.
- The twigs, when scraped, have a slight scent of wintergreen oil, though not as strongly so as the related sweet birch which is the only other birch in North America to also smell of wintergreen. However, the potency of the odor is not considered a reliable identification method unless it is combined with other characteristics
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Yellow birch is considered the most important species of birch for lumber and an important hardwood timber tree and is extensively used for flooring, furniture, doors, veneer,cabinetry and toothpicks. Most wood sold as birch in North America is from this tree. Its wood is relatively strong, close grained, and heavy. The wood varies in color from reddish brown to creamy white and accepts stain and can be worked to a high polish.
In the past, yellow birch has been used for distilling wood alcohol,, acetate of lime and for tar and oils. Oil of wintergreen can be distilled from the bark.
The papery, shredded bark, is very flammable and can be peeled off and used as a fire starter even in wet conditions.
Yellow birch has been used medicinally by Native Americans as a blood purifier and for other uses.
Yellow birch can be tapped for syrup similarly to sugar maple, and although the sap has less sugar content, it flows in greater quantity than sugar maple. When the sap is boiled down, the wintergreen evaporates and leaves a syrup not unlike maple syrup. The sap can also be used as is in birch syrup or may be flavored. Tea can also be made from the twigs and inner bark.
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