The fruit, maturing in fall, is composed of numerous tiny winged seeds packed between the catkin bracts.

[citation needed] The oldest known B. lenta has been confirmed to be 368 years old,[4] and the species may live even longer in an undisturbed ancient forest.

This will continue to occur as long as the tree lives, but the individual bark layers become indiscernible after roughly 250 years of age.

[citation needed] Black birch seeds at a prolific rate and quickly colonizes disturbed areas.

In the Northeastern US in the 1980s, infestations of spongy moths, Hemlock woolly adelgid, and Discula destructiva killed many trees, and their place was taken by black birch.

[citation needed] The species is native to eastern North America, from southern Maine west to southernmost Ontario, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia.

[citation needed] The wood of black birch is heavy at 47 pounds per cubic foot and is used for furniture, millwork, and cabinets.