Gray birch is a narrow, columnar, single- or multi-trunked tree, 35-50 ft. Small, bushy tree with open, conical crown of short slender branches reaching nearly to the ground; more often a clump of several slightly leaning trunks from an old stump. The white, non-peeling bark becomes darker with age. Dark-green leaves turn yellow in fall. A pioneer tree on clearings, abandoned farms, and burned areas, Gray Birch grows rapidly but is short-lived. A nurse tree, it shades and protects seedlings of the larger, long-lived forest trees. The wood is used for spools and other turned articles and for firewood. Its trunks are so flexible that when weighted with snow, the upper branches may bend to the ground without breaking. The long-stalked leaves dance in the slightest breeze.