What kind of tree has white peeling bark?

Several beautiful tree species are known for their distinctive white peeling bark. Here are the most common ones in North America, with tips to tell them apart.

Paper birch (Betula papyrifera): - The classic white-barked tree of the northern forests - Bark peels in large, papery sheets revealing orange-brown inner bark - Leaves are oval with doubly-serrate (double-toothed) margins, 2-4 inches long - Native to northern US and Canada (Zones 2-6) - Often grows in clumps of multiple trunks

European white birch (Betula pendula): - Similar white bark but with more prominent black diamond-shaped marks (lenticels) - Distinctly weeping (pendulous) branches — paper birch does not weep - Leaves are smaller and more triangular than paper birch - Widely planted as an ornamental but prone to bronze birch borer

American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis): - Bark exfoliates in irregular patches revealing a mosaic of white, tan, olive, and brown - The "camouflage" pattern is distinctive — no other common tree looks like this - Massive tree with very large maple-like leaves (6-10 inches across) - Native throughout eastern US along streams and bottomlands

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides): - Smooth, pale white to greenish-white bark (doesn't peel as dramatically as birch) - Small, round leaves that "quake" (flutter) in the slightest breeze due to flattened leaf stalks - Grows in large clonal colonies — a grove may be a single organism connected by roots

Other possibilities: Japanese white birch, Himalayan birch, ghost gum (eucalyptus, in warmer climates), whitebark pine (in western mountains)

For help identifying your specific tree, try our Tree ID Guide or browse the Plant Database. Check out our article on Tree Bark Peeling to understand why bark peels.