The Forestry Research Area in Liliental

The Curly Birches

The curly Birch represents a speciality. It is a variant of the Silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.), whose knotty growths in the timber are highly valued for their strange grain patterns – especially when the timber is cut up as veneer. The curly birches in Lilental are all grafts and originate from Finland and Sweden. Because of the relatively short day length in the Southwest Black Forest (compared to Northern Europe) the trees grow only very slowly (see map 12).