Betulaceae

Birch Family

Gray Alder

FAMILY: Birch family (Betulaceae) – Alnus genus.

SPECIES: Gray, thinleaf, or mountain alder (Alnus incana (L.) Moench ssp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Warning! Alder trees are inundated with bitter tannins that need to be removed by boiling the various parts in multiple changes of water. Gray alder (A. incana) has edible inner bark and flower clusters (catkins), but the tannins greatly diminish the potential food value of these parts.

Inner bark of gray alder (A. incana) is extremely bitter due to excessive amounts of tannins. To make flour, strips of inner bark need to be thoroughly boiled in several changes of water, dried, and then ground. Very little nutrition is left after such extensive processing, and no amount of processing seems to eliminate the bitterness. Mixing the bark with more wholesome wild foods would be wise. Gray alder bark is available all year, but it makes a very low-quality wild food, and the sap isn’t much better.

Flowers of gray alder (A. incana) grow in clusters called catkins. Male (staminate) and female (pistillate) catkins grow separately, but on the same tree. Male catkins are longer and better suited to use as food. Female catkins are semi-woody and develop into small cones that persist for several months, or years if they don’t succumb to disease. Alders can bloom anytime from late winter to early summer, often before most spring vegetables are available. Male catkins taste reasonably good after cooking, or at least tolerable due to a lack of truly unappealing flavors. Bitter, resinous, and woody overtones may also be present. It’s a distinctive flavor. The texture is dry, grainy, and completely chewable. Consuming the wastewater is not recommended. Male catkins hang from branch tips. Fine, tacky, yellow pollen covers the healthy flowers. This pollen can be utilized as food by sifting it prior to boiling the flowers, setting it aside, and then sprinkling it on the cooked flowers. Note that pollen can be highly allergenic and should not be consumed if it triggers reactions. Overall, gray alder flowers seem to be a fairly good resource.

NOTES: The road leading to Turkey Creek in southwestern New Mexico just isn’t meant for low-clearance vehicles, unless you don’t mind grading the road with the bottom of your car! It took a while to reach the end of that road, but I finally reached it relatively undamaged. It was February and the alders were blooming. Only a few sources indicate that alder flowers are edible. Most parts of alders are too high in tannins to serve as food, but the flowers are relatively low in these compounds. I wouldn’t recommend consuming anything other than the flowers. There’s a hot spring at the end of that road leading to Turkey Creek, and I was glad to find it in the cold month of February. With a supply of food, fresh water, the Gila Wilderness calling my name, and a hot spring to revitalize me, I was ready to explore. I promptly began searching for anything edible, and that search led me to alder trees, cottonwood trees, and a few species of mustards braving the cold. February doesn’t offer foragers many options, but there are a few. Alders and cottonwoods are riparian trees in the Southwest, which means they only grow along rivers. Both of them offer foragers early-season resources. I tried alder flowers for the first time in this enchanting corner of New Mexico. My other experiences with alders were primarily in the Fish Lake National Forest of central Utah, where gray alder (A. incana) is common.

IDENTIFICATION: The Alnus genus is represented by 10 species in the United States, of which only 2 occur in the Southwest and Great Basin. Alders are spineless trees found in moist mountain habitats. They produce little, woody, cone-like fruit structures called strobiles that persist on the branch tips for several months, or even years. The cone and leaf combination is a sure sign of alders. Birches have more delicate fruit structures that fall apart soon after maturity.

Description of gray alder (Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia): FORM spineless, deciduous, monoecious tree or shrub-like tree up to 9 meters tall; often forming thickets; BARK silver-gray to reddish-brown; often smooth and somewhat shiny in youth; becoming scaly or furrowed with age; lenticels present; WINTER BUDS reddish, short-stalked (or narrowed to the bases), and covered by 2-3 non-overlapping scales; LEAVES simple; alternate; blades lance-ovate with 6-9 pairs of parallel veins; bases flat, rounded, or forming short lobes; margins deeply double-serrated; FLOWERS arranged in catkins/aments; MALE catkins 3-15 cm long and hanging downward; each flower with 4 sepals, 0 petals, and 4 stamens; FEMALE catkins 1-3 cm long; each flower with 0 sepals, 0 petals, 1 pistil, 2 stigmas, and a 2-chambered inferior ovary; FRUITS nutlets borne in woody, ellipsoid, cone-like structures (strobiles) that persist on the branch tips; HABITAT mountain streams throughout most of the western United States, southward to central Arizona and central New Mexico; blooming February to June. NOTES: Mogollon alder (A. oblongifolia), a dominant species of central Arizona and central New Mexico, has narrower leaves with v-shaped bases and male flowers often bearing only 2 stamens. Other species don’t enter the Southwest.

REFERENCES: Tilford (p. 12) indicates that alder catkins (presumably of all western species) are edible. Gray alder (Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia): inner bark and flowers Vizgirdas (p. 46).

Western Birch

FAMILY: Birch family (Betulaceae) – Betula genus.

SPECIES: Western, mountain, river, water, red, or copper birch (Betula occidentalis Hook. = Betula beeniana A. Nelson = Betula fontinalis Sarg.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Syrup can be made from the sap of western birch trees. The inner bark is also edible, and tea can be made from the leaves, buds, and twigs.

Fresh sap of western birch is clear with a light-brown tinge. The sap only flows for a few weeks starting in late winter and declines when the leaves appear. Be sure to properly shield the sap from insects when collecting. Glass, ceramic, wooden, or plastic containers are recommended for collecting. Metal containers taint the flavor. One tree can yield 1-3 liters of sap per day. The sap is about 99% water and 1% sugar. Making syrup requires extensive boiling. Sap must be reduced to about 1/70 of its original volume to make syrup. Once sufficiently concentrated by boiling off the excess water, the sap has a pure sweetness nearly identical to caramel. No harsh overtones or herbal accents are apparent in western birch syrup. A delicious beverage can be made by reducing the sap to merely 1/4 of its original volume. Birch syrup is high in vitamins and minerals. A limited supply is available on the commercial market, but at a cost of about 5 times that of maple syrup. Birch syrup was enjoyed in the northern woodlands for countless centuries.

Inner bark of western birch is less appealing than the syrup, but it’s relatively good compared to the bark of other trees, especially alders. Collecting the inner bark is difficult, so tapping the sap is a better option. Inner and outer bark layers are paper-thin and the trees are often more shrub-like than tree-like. Flour is made by grinding strips of dried inner bark. Western birch flour has a mild flavor and a coarse texture. Chewing it may take a while, and the high fiber content makes it difficult to digest. Eating it raw may require a little water to wash it down. The inner bark of paper birch (B. papyrifera) is considerably thicker and tastes better than that of western birch, but the well-known paper birch only grows in northern temperate forests. Western birch is found throughout the Intermountain Region, often forming dense thickets along mountain streams.

Western birch leaf tea combines a mildly resinous character with a deep green essence. Newly emerging leaves are shiny, tacky, and faintly aromatic. The aroma suggests a mysterious wild fruit combined with a nourishing herb. Steeping dissipates the subtle fruity accent, leaving only an herbal essence to savor. Adding the twigs imparts a woodland character. Western birch leaf tea is free of acrid, bitter, soapy, and perfume-like accents. Many birches, including western birch, are reported to have edible young leaves. When eaten fresh, western birch leaves taste terribly acrid due to resins. After cooking, small amounts of these leaves taste reasonably good, but large amounts become acrid. The flowers serve better as vegetables than the leaves. 

Western birch flowers bloom early, typically in late winter before the leaves appear. Male flowers occur in clusters separate from the females. Male flowers (staminate catkins) rank among the better-tasting parts of western birch, definitely better than the leaves and buds. Male flowers are completely chewable and essentially free of harsh flavors. They’re a pleasant wild food. Leaves of western birch have a strong tendency for yellow in autumn, and oddly, the flowers (nascent inflorescences) start to develop at this time. They don’t bloom until more spring-like weather returns, but in this dormant winter stage they provide a potential source of food when other foods are scarce. Dormant buds are always an item to be looking for in winter.

IDENTIFICATION: The Betula genus is represented by about 25 species in the United States, of which only western birch (B. occidentalis) is found in the Southwest and Great Basin. Alder trees (of the Alnus genus) look similar to birch trees, but they differ greatly in regard to edibility. The two should not be confused. Alder trees produce small, woody, cone-like fruit structures that persist on the branch tips. Birch trees produce delicate fruit structures that crumble soon after maturity. Most other features are similar.

Description of western birch (Betula occidentalis): FORM deciduous, monoecious, riparian shrubs or trees up to 11 meters tall; BARK red, brown, or gray; shiny; marked with lighter-colored horizontal streaks (lenticels); and generally not shredding into papery strips; TWIGS hairless to sparsely hairy (pubescent), covered with conspicuous resin glands, and without a wintergreen aroma; LEAVES simple; alternate; blades 2-5 cm long, widely oval-, lance-, heart- or diamond-shaped; margins coarsely double-serrated; FLOWERS males and females arranged in catkins appearing with (or slightly before) the leaves; in both genders each scale subtends 3 flowers and 3 bractlets; MALE catkins 2-9 cm long and pendulous; each flower with 4 sepals, 0 petals, and 2 stamens; FEMALE catkins 1-4 cm long; the flowers ovary inferior and lacking sepals and petals; FRUITS samaras 1-seeded, winged, papery, and clustered into delicate structures called infructescences; HABITAT restricted to mountain streams; northern New Mexico to Utah, Nevada, and California; blooming March to May.

REFERENCES: Couplan (p. 83) indicates that the sap of all birch trees can be gathered and consumed raw or made into syrup. Western birch (Betula occidentalis): inner bark Vizgirdas (pp. 46-47); leaves Vizgirdas (pp. 46-47); catkins Schofield (pp. 61-62).