gray birch

American  

noun

1. a small, bushy birch, Betula populifolia, of stony or sandy areas of the eastern U.S., having grayish-white bark and triangular leaves.

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Etymology

Origin of gray birch

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gray birch

Into the brown furrows troop the goldenrod and asters, the wild grasses and brambles making a first shelter for the seeds of gray birch and wild cherry that magically come and plant themselves.

From Old Plymouth Trails by Packard, Winthrop

He carried a plain walking-stick of gray birch with a single large opal for a grip.

From Tales of the Jazz Age by Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott)

He was sorry, and explained the case by saying,— "Well, if there's one kind of tree I hate more than another, it's a gray birch."

From The Hills of Hingham by Sharp, Dallas Lore

The white bark of the gray birch, the dark bark of the black oak, the gray of the beech, the golden yellow of the mulberry and the mottled bark of the sycamore are interesting comparisons.

From Studies of Trees by Levison, Jacob Joshua

Every one can see at a glance the appropriateness of such terms as pale primrose, gray birch, and narrow bower.

From The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, January 1844 Volume 23, Number 1 by Various