sweet birch

noun

common birch of the eastern United States having spicy brown bark yielding a volatile oil and hard dark wood used for furniture

• Syn: ↑cherry birch, ↑black birch, ↑Betula lenta

• Hypernyms: ↑birch, ↑birch tree

• Member Holonyms: ↑Betula, ↑genus Betula

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noun

: a common birch (Betula lenta) of the eastern United States that has a spicy brown bark containing a volatile oil, hard dark-colored wood used for furniture and cabinetwork, and erect fruiting aments — called also black birch, cherry birch

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a North American tree, Betula lenta, having smooth, blackish bark and twigs that are a source of methyl salicylate. Also called black birch, cherry birch.

[1775-85, Amer.]

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sweet birch,

a birch tree of the Eastern United States, having a hard, dark-colored, and close-grained wood used especially for furniture, and an aromatic bark yielding a volatile oil similar to oil of wintergreen; cherry birch; black birch.

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n. a North American birch, esp. of Appalachian forests, with brown or black bark and smooth twigs that smell of wintergreen when broken or crushed. The leaves and sap of sweet birch yield oil of wintergreen (see ). Also called black birch. ● Betula lenta, family Betulaceae