1: Black birch (Alley Pond Park (Woods), May 14, 2000)

2: Black birch again (Alley Pond Park (Woods), May 14, 2000)

3: Black birch. Chew on twigs. Like wintergreen. (Forest Park, Jul 4, 2001)

4: Black birch. Chew on twigs. Like wintergreen. (Forest Park, Jul 4, 2001)

5: Black birch tree. Like wintergreen. Chew twigs. (Forest Park, Jul 4, 2011)

6: Black birch tree. Smooth gray bark with horizontal lines. (Forest Park, Jul 4, 2011)

7: Black birch tree bark. (Inwood Park, Jul 17, 2011)

8: Black birch tree leaves. (Inwood Park, Jul 17, 2011)

9: Black birch trunk. Take a twig and chew it. It tastes like wintergreen. The twigs are good for infant teething. It makes a delicious wintergreen tea. Mix with sparkling water to make birch beer. Adjust proportions to taste. It makes a culinary seasoning, which Wildman simmers in non-dairy milk and other ingredients and makes a pudding. At the end remove the twigs with a tongs. The oil contains methyl salicylate, which contains salicylate. A low dose aspirin. In season all year. (Prospect Park, Dec 2, 2023)

10: Black birch catkins. They open up in the spring. Very bad for allergy sufferers. (Prospect Park, Dec 2, 2023)