You can spot the slender, graceful silver-white bark and diamond shaped green leaves of Silver Birch (Betula pendula) anywhere in the UK. It’s been here since the Ice Age ended. This native deciduous broad leaf tree is an opportunistic coloniser of waste ground, and popular in large gardens.

The bark can be used for tanning leather and its waterproof qualities make it ideal roofing material. These days the white-coloured light hardwood is only really used to make plywood, or for broom handles or toys, though it was once popular in furniture making. The twigs are used in besoms – witches’ broomsticks!

Silver Birch shoots up quickly, reaching a height of between 15m and 30m with a light open leaf canopy that allows sunlight through to the woodland floor. This makes Birch an excellent nursery crop for slower growing trees needing protection. Some foresters remove Birch saplings, though, to stop their suppleness in high winds causing whipping injuries to more valuable trees.

The small, almost triangular leaves, have a toothed edge and seem to shimmer in the wind.

Birch withstands wind, hard frosts and strong sunshine, and the shelter it offers to mosses, grasses, and woodland flowers such as bluebells, primroses and wood anemones, mean it’s an ideal environment for a wide range of insects, birds and animal life. In Birch woodlands you’re likely to see Robins, Chaffinches, Tree Pipets, Willow Warblers and perhaps Woodcocks, Nightingales, Woodpeckers and Redpolls as well as around 230 species of insects.

Catkins grow at the leaf base during April and May, starting as bright green, turning to dark crimson, and hanging like ‘lambs’ tails’ before scattering copious amounts of seeds to the wind. They leave a beautiful yellow icing sugar cover on the ground around them, though not to the delight of allergy sufferers!

William Wordsworth’s sister, Dorothy, described Silver Birch as ‘the lady of the woods’ – like many ‘ladies’, an elegant exterior does not preclude inner strengths!

History

The birch is traditionally linked with purification. The old-fashioned approach used birch for rods in corporal punishment, and flagellants used to whip themselves with birch to cleanse the soul. Today we take a gentler approach, preferring to use birch in our products for its ability to purify and cleanse.

Cultivation for Weleda

During the months of May and June, Birch leaves contain the highest levels of active ingredients. At this time, our partners in South Bohemia gather 500 tons of the fresh Birch leaves. The collectors often begin their work at the crack of dawn and collect the leaves by hand. They are then gently air-dried for a full five days.

The leaves are certified organic according to Swiss and EU guidelines.

They are then dispatched to Weleda France, where the extract is obtained using a traditional pharmaceutical process known as decoction, to release the active substances.

Read more about Weleda’s fair trading partnership >

Key Properties

Birch contains flavonoids, saponines and tannins, which protect the skin cells from damage by free-radicals and help support natural purification.

In Birch the flavonoids extracted encourage the flushing of toxins to restore skin radiance. Modern herbalists often use dried leaves, bark, buds and sap of the Birch for treating a number of ailments, including as a cleansing diuretic, for kidney stones and other disorders of the urinary tract, and treating inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, and skin problems.

Birch’s therapeutic and cleansing properties make it ideal to use as part of a Spring detox programme and our Birch Juice and Birch Elixir both contain extracts from young Birch leaves. Birch Elixir and Juice can help cleanse from the inside, while Birch Cellulite Oil gets to work from the outside – read more about cellulite >.

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Weleda products which contain Birch:

•	Almond Facial Masque	Intensive care for sensitive skin
•	Birch Cellulite Oil	Visible improvements in just 28 days
•	Birch Body Scrub	Gently exfoliates and smoothes the skin
•	Iris Intensive Treatment Cream	For dry and damaged skin
•	Massage Balm with Arnica	For the symptomatic relief of muscular pain, stiffness and backache
•	Massage Balm with Calendula	Relieves symptoms of mild muscular tension
•	Rheumadoron 102A Drops (P)	Symptomatic relief of muscular rheumatic pain
•	Rheumadoron Ointment (P)	Symptomatic relief of muscular rheumatic pain

(P) Please note: that medicines with this symbol are only available via a Pharmacy so not available on the Weleda website. You can call Weleda on 0115 944 8222 for further information, including stockists information and how to buy.

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