old field birchn.
/ˌəʊl(d) fiːld ˈbəːtʃ/, U.S. /ˌoʊl(d) ˌfild ˈbərtʃ/ Any of several North American birches, esp. the white birch, Betula populifolia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > birch and allies > [noun]
bircha700
birch-tree1530
weeping birch1606
Our Lady's tree1608
black birch1674
sugar-birch1751
white birch1766
red birch1774
yellow birch1774
paper birch1791
canoe birch1810
mountain mahogany1810
old field birch1810
mahogany birch1813
towai1845
river birch1846
kamahi1867
silver birch1884
wire birch1899
1810 F. A. Michaux Histoire des Arbres Forestiers de l'Amérique Septentrionale I. 26 White birch [ou] Old field birch (Bouleau des terreins secs.).
1832 D. J. Browne Sylva Americana 123 In the state of Maine..[the name] Old Field Birch is..employed to distinguish the white birch from the canoe birch.
1862 New Amer. Cycl. XV. 718/2 Among the characteristic trees of this province are the betula or birch, of which 5 species are found, viz.: B. papyracea or paper birch, B. excelsa, nigra, lenta, and populifolia, known by the common names of yellow, black, sweet, and white old field birch.
1946 Amer. Forests Sept. 431 This accounts for the tree quickly taking possession of burned-over, cutover and abandoned land, which has given it the name ‘oldfield birch’.
1986 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 113 57/2 We trecked [sic] to a site where a nearly pure stand of old field birch (Betula populifolia) grew fifty years ago.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1810