Finland · #2 tree National tree of Finland (since 1988)
Silver birch
Betula pendula · locally: rauduskoivu
No Finnish sauna is complete without birch – its twigs are bound into a vihta, used to whisk the body in the hot steam.
The silver birch is a slender tree with white bark, black and fissured at the base of the trunk, and drooping thin twigs covered in tiny resinous warts. Its leaves are triangular and double-toothed, turning golden in autumn. It is a pioneer species – one of the first to colonise burnt ground, clearings and abandoned fields. Its wood is used to make plywood and furniture, its sap is made into drinks, xylitol is produced from the wood and birch tar from the bark.
Significance in the country
The silver birch was proclaimed Finland’s national tree in 1988. Its young twigs are bound into a vihta (or vasta) used in the sauna, and Finnish birch wood is the mainstay of the plywood industry and of Alvar Aalto’s famous furniture designs.
Where it grows
Throughout the country, from the south coast to southern Lapland; in the far north it is replaced by the downy birch and its mountain variety.
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