I once met the discoverer of the 'Heritage' Birch when he was substitute teaching for Dr. Michael Dirr one day in woody plant class at the University of IL. His name was Earl Cully and he found it in southwest Illinois in a homeowner's yard. He was granted permission to take buds of the tree for propagation. This new cultivar was first called 'Cully' after him. 'Heritage' is the more commercial trade name. It is just like the mother species, except that it keeps the young kind of bark with lots of cream color and some orange-brown with pinkish tints. It is probably sold more in the North than the mother species at nurseries because the bark is so outstanding. Like other birch, it is flexible and resistant to strong winds; however, River Birch does drop lots of dead twigs much of the year, and it drops lots of seeds in early summer, and lots of leaves during much of the summer, so that only about half of the leaves are left for the yellow fall color. Therefore, any kind of River Birch, lovely as it is, is best not used in a place where fallen twigs, leaves, and seed are not wanted.

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River Birch (Betula nigra 'Heritage') is probably not a plant for everyone. It's a fast growing tree to fairly large proportions, and its branches are messy. They're prone to breakage under heavy snow and ice, and shed smaller sections regularly. Its seeds are fertile at maturity and germinate readily. This plant might best be placed in an area away from flowerbeds.

In a natural setting with moist soil, this tree is gorgeous and very easy to grow.

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