Grey birch is a small tree found only in the eastern provinces. Like the paper birch, the mature bark is white, but it has many more dark gray and black markings. Look at the trunk under the attachment points of the branches—gray birch will almost always have dark, triangular patches on the bark there. Mature bark only peels in small sections, never in the large sheets characteristic of white birch. Its has long tipped leaves, making it look quite different from white birch.