Birch

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Birch is a type of tree that can be found in the Meadows and Plains biomes. It is characterized by its white bark with black spots. A Bronze axe or better is required to damage it.

Birch trees produce Wood and Finewood when destroyed. The yield of each type of wood is random, however, a birch tree will always drop 20 pieces of wood total (plus 2 Wood from its stump).

It is possible to damage Birch trees by intentionally hitting them with falling Beech trees. If enough damage is done by falling trees, the Birch tree will be brought down. The trunk can then be rolled downslope (ideally) and repeatedly smashed into obstacles until it shatters into usable lumber. Birch trees can also be destroyed by a Troll. These methods allow players to acquire Finewood before being able to craft a Bronze axe.

Birch trees come in 4 variations: two different shapes, each of which has two biome-dependent variations (which differ in color but not in shape). The two shapes can be distinguished by the number and position of their branches: Variation 1 has fewer large branches, the lowest of which is about 8 meters from the ground, while Variation 2 has a very thick branch which splits from the trunk at only about 4 meters from the ground, and more large branches up higher. Each of these shapes can come in two colors: with green leaves (in non-Plains biomes) or with yellow leaves (in Plains only). Each Birch tree's color is dependent entirely on which biome it spawns in, but its shape is determined entirely randomly. Player-grown Birch trees always have green foliage.

Drops

Below, variants are abbreviated according to shape (1 or 2, as defined above) and by color ("G" for green or "Y" for yellow). For example, "G1" means "green foliage, shape 1".

Amount	Item	Chance	Average per Tree
Amount	Item	Chance	G1	G2	Y1	Y2
2	Large Birch Logs	100%	2	2	2	2
1	Birch Stump	100%	1	1	1	1
50% chance to drop between X and 2 of:
1-2	Resin	25%	0.375	0.1875	0.1875	0.1875
1-2	Feathers	25%	0.375	0.1875	0.1875	0.1875
1-2	Birch seeds	50%	0.75	0.375	0.375	0.375
...where X equals:			2	1	1	1

From stump

Amount	Item	Chance
2	Wood	100%

From large log

Amount	Item	Chance
2	Small Birch Logs	100%

From small log

Amount	Item	Chance	Average per Tree	Min–Max per Tree
10 of the following:
1	Wood	50%	10	0–20
1	Finewood	50%	10	0–20

Planting

Birch trees that grow naturally in the Plains biome have a different "fall-like", yellow color to its leaves compared to the variant of Birch found in the Meadows. However, should the player grow their own Birch trees in Plains by using the Cultivator, the player-cultivated trees will have green leaves like those found in Meadows. This makes the naturally grown Plains birch with the faded yellow hue finite and impossible to replace once chopped down.

Allowed Biomes:
Meadows	Yes
Black Forest	Yes
Swamp	No
Mountain	No
Plains	Yes
Mistlands	No
Ashlands	No

Trivia

Since the wood drops from the Birch tree's trunk are composed of multiple individual random rolls, each with the same chance and with two possible outcomes, the drop rate of Finewood per tree thus follows a Binomial distribution with n = 20 and p = 0.5. For example, the chance of getting at least k Finewood from a tree (for integer k between 0 and 20) can be calculated with the formula $\sum _{i=0}^{k}{n \choose i}p^{i}(1-p)^{n-i}$ .
Birch wood can be harvested before getting a Tier 2 axe. If a Beech tree is felled and lands in the Birch's branches, splitting the tree will cause likely damage to the Birch sufficient to knock it down, creating a Birch log which may then be rolled into another Birch tree to cause it enough damage to fall, and the resulting Birch logs may be rolled into each other cause damage until they break into Wood and Finewood. This requires a bit of luck, since Beech trees will fall in a random direction, though they can be guided slightly. (It also requires a great deal of patience).
- Trolls can also destroy Birch trees, especially the log-wielding ones, whose sweep attack can bring down several trees at once. Luring a Troll into a dense grove is a quite effective, though very dangerous, way to cut down a large number of trees.