Video: What is the mystery of the Karelian birch - the mysterious pearl of the northern forests
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
It is known that wood is considered ideal for those trees that have smooth, flawless trunks. Karelian birch does not fit into the existing canons at all, but, nevertheless, it is one of the most valuable tree species. It is in the flaws that its true beauty lies - an unusual marble texture, over the solution of which scientists have been struggling for almost a hundred years.
In 1766, the German forester Fokel, who explored the forests of the northwestern part of Russia on behalf of Catherine II, discovered and described for the first time the unusual trees found there, which in appearance resembled a simple birch, and "". Almost a hundred years later (in 1857) the Russian scientist K. Merklin gave these trees the name "Karelian birch", since they were first discovered in Karelia. In addition to Russian, Karelian birch also received a Latin name - Betula pendula Roth.
Unlike the slender white-trunk birch we are used to, praised by many poets and artists, hardly anyone would call this birch a beauty. Karelian birch is a completely unattractive undersized tree with a strongly deformed trunk with a large number of spherical bulges and bumps on it.
But under this unprepossessing shell is hidden a real treasure. It is the ugly growths and cracks on the trunk of the Karelian birch that, instead of the annual rings that can be seen on the cuts of other trees, form an unusual pattern of bizarre lines, curls, and ticks. Moreover, this pattern on each trunk is unique.
The color of the wood is also very beautiful, which can be of various shades - from light golden to dark amber. Polished, it shimmers like mother-of-pearl. In addition, the wood of the Karelian birch is also very durable - it does not rot or split.
Since the end of the 18th century, Karelian birch wood has been used for the manufacture of expensive furniture, dishes, caskets, and jewelry. The Karelian birch began to be called the "royal tree", furniture made of unique wood was used to furnish the interiors of the royal chambers.
In 1917, Faberge made an Easter egg from Karelian birch for Emperor Nicholas II. For a long time this masterpiece was considered lost, but now you can admire it at the Faberge Museum in Baden-Baden (Germany).
Mystery tree
For almost 100 years, scientists have been struggling with the mysteries of this tree. At first it was not even clear what the Karelian birch was - whether it was a separate species, or just a variety, a subspecies of some kind of birch. This question, in the end, was clarified - most researchers agreed that the Karelian birch is an anomalous form, a subspecies, the most common birch in our country - drooping (or warty).
But there is still no unequivocal opinion as to the reason leading to such an unusual shape of the birch trunk and, accordingly, to the formation of patterned wood. Many different hypotheses are put forward - the influence of soil composition, climate, viral diseases, genetic mutations, etc. So research continues …
At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of these valuable trees began to decline sharply due to uncontrolled felling, it was necessary to take urgent measures to save the Karelian pearl. And since the 30s, Karelian birch has been grown in special reserves.
And in the Czech Republic there are miracles, stone ones - glass with a shooting star and crystal drops of blood.
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