Latin: Betula lenta
French: Bouleau noir, bouleau flexible, merisier rouge
English: Birch, Cherry birch, Wintergreen
Family: Betulacea
Source: United-States
History and Origin:
Sweet Birch is a tall tree (up to 25 meters) mainly found around Montreal, Ottawa region and in the Eastern region of United-States.
In times of food shortage, people used to crush and dry its internal bark to produce a substitute for starch and use it added to flour to make bread and to thicken soups. Its leaves and the bark of its roots were used as a decoction. Finally, the sap used to be collected for the preparation of drinks and vinegars.
Since the essential oil of this tree is so easy to copy (because of its simple composition), « wintergreen » sold on the market is often of synthetic origin.
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