river birch
1
5.8
- noun
- /ˈrɪvər bɜrʧ/
- Specialized
:
abeto de río
- The predominant tree next to the river is river birch, whose papery bark shreds to reveal a lovely pinkish underbark.
- river birch, red maple
- river birch, willow
- river birch, and sycamore
Examples
-
Trees shade the bog during the growing season: sweet gums, river birches, swamp bays, swamp chestnut oaks, and bald cypresses.
Academic text (1993) -
The predominant tree next to the river is river birch, whose papery bark shreds to reveal a lovely pinkish underbark.
-
Some of those champion trees are the Arizona cypress, Virginia pine, and river birch.
Blog text (3) -
The relative flood intolerance of river birch explains its absence throughout much of the lower Mississippi River Valley.
Academic text (2012) -
At the beginning of Happy Valley, trunks of river birch unspooled into cinnamon.
Fiction book (2000) -
They also weakly preferred ash, river birch, and box elder.
Academic text (2016) -
The river birch is a native tree known for its attractive, peeling reddish-brown bark.
-
In wetlands, the river birch thrives due to its preference for moist soil conditions.
Synonyms
1
6.5
A tree with reddish-brown bark that grows near rivers and swamps in the eastern United States
A tree with reddish-brown peeling bark that grows along rivers and in wet ground
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a birch tree that grows by rivers or in river bottoms' is directly and transparently composed from 'river' + 'birch' as a noun–noun compound indicating type or habitat. This compositional pattern is common in English (and cross-linguistically), so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the intended referent.
Etymology
River birch comes from the simple picture of a birch growing by a river. So the name simply means 'a birch that grows near rivers and wet ground'.