River birch is a native deciduous, upright, flowering tree with cinnamon-brown, exfoliating bark and yellow fall foliage that tends to drop off the tree quickly.

River birch prefers wet sites and does best in moist, acidic, sandy, or rocky, well-drained loam in full sun to part shade. The best foliage color occurs in full sun. River birch is perhaps the most culturally adaptable and heat tolerant of the birches. This species has been known to tolerate flooded conditions for extended periods of time. For this reason, it is naturally found in riverbanks, streambanks, and floodplains. In the landscape, keep the soil consistently moist and consider using soaker hoses and bark mulches to keep the root zones cool and moist.