The tree

A small tree belonging to the birch family, with pointed leaves with serrated margin and prominent veins. The trunk is fluted and crooked and has a smooth and greenish grey bark on both young and old trees. Commonly with more than one trunk, and never taller than 20 meters, it is often used as hedging tree.

The wood

The wood is cream colored without visible heartwood. It is the heaviest and hardest of the Scandinavian woods. Marketed as white beech. Shrinks and distorts a lot when seasoned. The wood is very resilient and was used for wooden screws, tool handles, brushes, household utensils and wooden mallets.