Birch trees can be found beyond the Arctic Circle and in the mountains, as well as in warm countries, on sandy and dry soils.
Birch has enjoyed great love and respect of humanity since ancient times. And how many verses and songs are stacked about this slender and beautiful tree! And if it seems to you that you know about birch trees, if not everything, then a lot, if it seems to you that it is hardly possible to find particularly curious facts in the biography and history of this culture, we will hasten to debunk this error!
On our planet, there are about a hundred species of birches.
For example, did you know that a birch is a long-liver, and lives for 150-320 years. It has a lot of useful properties, for example, in the spring, a birch tree can produce up to 50 liters of healthy and tasty juice, which has a very positive effect on human health.
At the age of 180-200 years, a birch grows up to twenty meters in height and 65 centimeters in diameter.
The word "birch" in the Proto-Slavic language is derived from the verb "whiten, lighten."
The image of birch is widespread in the culture of the Slavs, Finno-Ugric peoples, Scandinavians and some other peoples.
In medicine, birch tar is used, which has preventive and anti-inflammatory effects.
Birch buds can be used in various infusions and potions. And in the baths birch brooms are actively used, which “sweep” various ailments and diseases from the human body.
Bark of birch is used for construction, as well as waiting for domestic needs in daily affairs.
The birch bark is white due to the resinous substance betulin. It protects the tree from adverse external factors, including parasites.
For hundreds of years, humanity has learned to use the signs associated with birch. For example, if a lot of juice is released from the birch in the spring, then it promises a rainy summer. And vice versa.
It is also known that the bark of a tree can suggest when to start sowing cereals, for example oats - when the leaves of a birch blossom, then it is worth sowing.
Birch seeds are exceptionally light - 5000 seeds weigh about 1 gram, so the wind can carry them a huge distance from the mother tree.
It is also known that birch is one of twenty-two trees that is part of the Celtic Druid horoscope.
There is the so-called "iron birch", which grows in the Far East. They say that her strength can only be compared with a welding iron seam. The use of this wood species is widespread in household needs among residents of the Far East. And in general, almost any birch refers to hardwood. Poles for bayonet and shovel shovels, cuttings for hammers and sledgehammers, etc. are made from it.
In the wood of birches lives a stag beetle - the largest beetle in Europe.
And what interesting facts about birch are known to you?
