- (36 Cheltenham Avenue)
- Photo: © Shaun Merritt
The large White birch (Betula papyrifera) in the front yard of this home is native to this area, but it's rather uncommon to see many mature ones around nowadays. White birches are not an ideal tree to plant in cities. One reason is because they are relatively short lived and weak wooded. Another is because they are prey to the Bronze Birch Borer (BBB), a beetle that bores inside the bark and feeds on the tree's xylem, which is the conductive tissue that transports its sugary sap. This is the same modus operandi of the reviled Asian Longhorned Beetle and Emerald Ash Borer. (Any time something eats a tree it's because they're going after the sugars, which contain energy.) As the beetles munch away at the wood just below the bark, they create galleries or tunnels, which girdle the tree, so that it can no longer conduct energy. Luckily, this particular tree doesn't seem to have been invaded by the BBB - (knock on wood) - but many other birch trees in the city have met early deaths due to this pervasive insect.
- Next stop: A natural fence
- Previous stop: The ‘real’ red maple
- Return to map of: Lawrence Park
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