{{Infobox structure
| image = <gallery>
Birch Tree.png|Tree
Tall Birch Tree.png|Tall Tree
Birch Sapling.png|Sapling
</gallery>
| biome =
* {{BiomeLink|Birch Forest}}
* {{BiomeLink|Dark Forest}}
* {{BiomeLink|Forest}}
* {{BiomeLink|Meadow}}
* {{BiomeLink|Old Growth Birch Forest}}
| fruit = None
| surface =
* {{BlockLink|Dirt}}
* {{BlockLink|Grass Block}}
* {{BlockLink|Coarse Dirt}}
* {{BlockLink|Podzol}}
* {{BlockLink|Mycelium}}
| blocks = 
* {{BlockLink|Birch Log}}
* {{BlockLink|Birch Leaves}}
* {{BlockLink|Mushrooms}} (fallen trees) {{only|bedrock|short=1}}
* {{BlockLink|Bee Nest}}
| canspawn = Yes
}}

A '''birch''' is a [[tree]] that appears similar to a common [[oak]] in terms of height and [[leaves]], but with light bark and pale wood. It is most commonly found in [[birch forest]] biomes. Tall birches are found only in [[old growth birch forest]] biomes and cannot be grown with saplings. As with oaks and [[cherries]], a birch grown near flowers can generate with a [[bee nest]] attached.

== Appearance ==
Birches come in two different variants:
* Shorter birches can be grown by the player using birch saplings and are found in [[forest]], [[birch forest]], [[dark forest]] and [[meadow]] biomes.
* A taller, rare tree that can only be found in [[old growth birch forest]]s and rarely in [[meadow]]s{{Verify|Verify that this happens in both editions}}.
Birches that are grown from saplings grow to be 5 to 7 blocks tall, while birches in the old growth birch forest biome can generate with trunks up to 13 blocks in height.

== Leaf arrangement<!-- This section is not in any of the other tree pages (which bugs me) - if anyone is willing to make one of these for other trees please do --> ==

{{layered blueprint|l=birch leaves+fast|w=birch log+top|f=birch leaves|a=air|name=Birch Tree Top|default=Layer 1 (top)
|----Layer 1 (top)|
a
aal
alll
aal
|----Layer 2|
a
aflf
alwl
aflf
|----Layers 3 and 4|
flllf
lllll
llwll
lllll
flllf
}}
All birches lack branches. Birches always grow around 50<!--might be 49--> to 60 leaves.<!--as above, might be 59 or 61--> The leaf distributions are shown visually above<!-- may appear to right for certain viewers -->, each table cell representing one 'slice' of the tree viewed from above. The transparent leaves represent areas where leaves ''may'' grow, but do not always. The growth pattern, in detail, is as follows:
* The topmost row is one above the height of the tree and always has exactly 5 leaves: one above the log and four orthogonally adjacent to it, forming a + shape.
** '''5 leaves'''
* The second row is the top of the trunk and also has 4 leaves adjacent to it. Diagonal leaf blocks grow from a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 3 corners of the log.<!-- I don't know if having none or all 4 filled diagonally is possible, but I have never seen either.-->
** '''5 - 7 leaves'''
* The third row has the log in the middle, surrounded orthogonally and diagonally by leaf blocks. Those 8 leaf blocks are also surrounded orthogonally, for an additional 12 leaf blocks. One can think of this as a 5×5 space where every block is leaves except the four corners. These corners are randomly filled with between 0 and 4 leaves, although having all four filled is rare.
** '''20 - 24 leaves'''
* The fourth row generates with the same rules like the third and thus has a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 24 leaf blocks.
** '''20 - 24 leaves'''
* The fifth and sixth (bottom) rows contain no leaves, only the log in the center. If the tree is 6 or 7 blocks tall, the additional 1 or 2 rows at the bottom are also just a log.
** '''No leaves'''
{{-}}

Small oak and 1×1 jungle trees also have this arrangement of leaves.

== Generation ==
The birch variants spawn naturally in the indicated biomes:
{| class="wikitable col-1-left" data-description="Oak variant biomes" style="text-align:center;"
! Biome
! [[File:Birch Tree.png|25px]] Birch
! [[File:Tall Birch Tree.png|25px]] Tall Birch
|-
|{{BiomeLink|Dark Forest}} || {{tc|yes}} || {{tc|no}}
|-
|{{BiomeLink|Forest}} || {{tc|yes}} || {{tc|no}}
|-
|{{BiomeLink|Birch Forest}} || {{tc|yes}} || {{tc|no}}
|-
|{{BiomeLink|Meadow}} || {{tc|yes}} || {{tc|yes}}
|-
|{{BiomeLink|Old Growth Birch Forest}} || {{tc|no}} || {{tc|yes}}
|}

== Blocks and items ==
These items can be obtained from birches, except that saplings cannot be obtained from tall birches:
* {{BlockLink|Bee Nest}} (if present on a tree near flowers)
* {{BlockLink|Birch Leaves}} (harvested with [[shears]])
* {{BlockLink|Birch Log}} (harvested with any tool including hands)
* {{BlockLink|Birch Planks}} (created from a log in the inventory crafting grid)
* {{BlockLink|Birch Sapling}} (normal birch only; chance of dropping when breaking leaves)
* {{BlockLink|Mushrooms}}{{only|be}} (if present on a fallen log)
* {{BlockLink|Stripped Birch Log}} (created by {{control|using}} an [[axe]] on a log)
* {{ItemLink|Stick}} (chance of dropping when breaking leaves)

== Planting ==
Birch [[sapling]]s can be planted on:
* {{BlockLink|Dirt}}
* {{BlockLink|Grass Block}}
* {{BlockLink|Coarse Dirt}}
* {{BlockLink|Podzol}}
* {{BlockLink|Mycelium}}
* {{BlockLink|Rooted Dirt}}
* {{BlockLink|Moss Block}}
* {{BlockLink|Pale Moss Block}}
* {{BlockLink|Farmland}}
* {{BlockLink|Mud}}
* {{BlockLink|Muddy Mangrove Roots}}

Only normal birches can be grown from saplings. Tall birches only generate naturally in the world.

Birches require a 3×3 column of unobstructed space at least 6 blocks above the sapling to grow (7 blocks including the sapling itself). Additionally, birches require 5×5 layers without obstruction for the top 3 layers of its final height. No horizontal clearance is needed at the base of the tree (a sapling planted in a hole 1 block deep can still grow).

A birch grown from a sapling and within 2 blocks of a flower has a 5% chance of having a bee nest containing 2–3 bees.

== Fallen birches ==
{{Exclusive|bedrock|education|section=1}}
[[File:Birch Fallen Log.png|200px]] [[File:Fallen Birch Log.png|200px]]

{{IN|bedrock}}, a fallen birch may consist of a single upright log, or a stump. Logs lying on their side are often found 1–2 blocks from the stump. They occasionally have mushrooms on top.

A fallen birch has a log length of 5–8 blocks. A fallen tall birch has a log length of 5–15 blocks. The stump is never covered in [[vines]].

== Foliage colors ==
{{main|Tint}}
Birch leaves do not follow the [[tint|foliage color]] rules that cause the trees to appear in different colors in different [[biome]]s. Birch leaves are always the same color regardless of the biome. {{IN|bedrock}}, however, they turn white as other leaves do during [[snowfall]] in snowy biomes.
{{-}}

== Data values ==

=== ID ===
{{section needed}}

== History ==
{{HistoryTable
|{{HistoryLine|java beta}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.2|Birch trees introduced.}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.5|Birch trees can now be grown using saplings.}}
|{{HistoryLine|java}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.7.2|dev=13w36a|Added tall birch trees and the birch forest M (later renamed to tall birch forest) biome.}}

|{{HistoryLine|pocket alpha}}
|{{HistoryLine||v0.1.0|Added oak, spruce, and birch trees.}}
|{{HistoryLine||v0.11.0|dev=build 1|Added tall birch tree variant.}}

|{{HistoryLine|console}}
|{{HistoryLine||xbox=TU1|xbone=CU1|ps3=1.00|psvita=1.00|ps4=1.00|wiiu=Patch 1|switch=1.0.1|Added oak, spruce, and birch trees.}}
}}

== Issues ==

{{issue list}}

== Trivia ==

* In real life, birch is a genera of trees known as [[wikipedia:birch|Betula]] which contains 30 to 60 known taxa.

== Gallery ==

<gallery>
File:FallenLog.jpg|A fallen birch tree.
File:BetaMultiTree.png|An oak tree loaded after birch and spruce were added.
File:Plantfight.png|An acacia tree that grew through a birch tree.
File:BirchTree.png|A birch and a balloon oak tree sharing a canopy.
File:BirchForestM.jpg|Tall birch trees in a old growth birch forest biome.
</gallery>

=== Odd generation ===

<gallery>
File:Tree on Stone.png|A birch tree that generated on a stone block over a lava pit.
File:Sand Tree.png|A birch tree on the sand, caused when the dirt it was on was replaced by sand.
File:Higher Fallen Tree.png|A fallen birch where most of the logs are higher than the base.
</gallery>

== Navigation ==
{{Navbox wood}}
{{Navbox generated features}}

[[Category:Plants]]

[[fr:Bouleau]]
[[ja:シラカバ]]
[[pt:Bétula]]
[[ru:Берёза]]
[[zh:白桦]]
