Birch Cap. Cap, suvel

Burl on the tree - ash

The ancient Slavic word "cap" means "head": usually the growth really has a rounded shape. Other old Russian names: bolona, ​​vyl, smelting, vyplyv, influx, zavoy, paport, roll, goiter, swirl, brush. In some sources, the burl is also called the "witch's broom" or "vortex's nest", which is not entirely correct, since these names denote a completely different tree pathology.

Cap is formed on all deciduous (mainly) and conifers trees. In Russian latitudes, it can be found on birch, poplar, maple, linden, aspen, oak, ash, elm, walnut.
The size of the burl varies from a few centimeters to several meters in section. It takes decades, or even more than half a century, for the formation of a build-up of medium size.
Cap is a rather rare occurrence, and to find at least one specimen in the forest is great luck. However, there are trees with several or even many growths. As well as places with a cluster of burl trees.

Caps on the tree - birch

Usually caps are divided into stem and basal.
The stem burl is formed on thick branches or trunk and can be lateral (developing on one side, most often southern) or circular (capturing a branch or trunk into a ring).
Root outgrowth - kapokoren - is formed on the root collar or roots of a tree. In the first case, it is above the ground, in the second case, it is completely hidden and can be detected in spring along young shoots near the main tree trunk, which quickly die.
A tree can simultaneously have caps of different types.

If the bark is removed from the burl, then an uneven, embossed surface will open under it, completely covered with needle-like, serrated and pineal tubercles - these are undeveloped buds.

There is already a rudimentary ring structure around each dormant bud.

dormant buds

→ Tree protection - antiseptik.info

Why does the cap appear

Opponents insist that this is not without the influence of external factors of a natural or anthropogenic nature. In particular, mechanical damage to the cortex (by animals, birds, people, rampant elements, etc.) at the site of a dormant kidney. This assumption confirms the fact that on plantations walnut where it is actively used vegetative reproduction grafting (which is actually an injury), a burl often develops on a rootstock below the grafting site. When the fruiting period of the nut comes out, the tree is dug up together with the burl that has grown to a solid size by that time and is sold as a secondary product.

According to other versions, the formation of a burl can be caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, weather anomalies (like sudden spring frosts), changes in the ecology and radiation background, a special mineral composition of the soil, geological faults, groundwater.

According to the conclusions of Soviet scientists, the formation of a burl is a biologically useful, protective property for trees, acquired in the process of evolution in response to adverse conditions. external environment. Moreover, it is a genetically fixed (hereditary) quality. in the Moscow region and Kirov region successful attempts have been made to cultivate trees with outgrowths using planting material from burl birches (seeds and cuttings for grafting). It was noted that such trees are more viable and hardy.

Texture of birch burl

The burl is used in its entirety to create artistic products, in veneer - for finishing exclusive items and furniture. Burls of thuja, myrtle, camphor and some other trees retain their characteristic aroma even after processing.

If, walking through the forest, you notice a growth on a birch, what is the name of this phenomenon and how can it be used, wood carving experts will definitely tell you. They already know exactly how to distinguish a mushroom from a high-quality decorative material. If you don’t have such acquaintances, then having delved a little into this topic, you can easily distinguish them on your own.

What causes a growth on a birch?

The reasons for the appearance of a build-up on a birch are different depending on the nature of this neoplasm:

• In the case when the nature of the growth is due to infection of the plant, then the cause may be spores of fungi or harmful bacteria;
• Appearance caps (cap) is due to the fact that the kidney with new branch cannot break through the thick bark, however, the processes that have begun in the trunk of the tree in connection with growth contribute to the delivery of nutrients instead of the emergence of a bud. Accordingly, favorable conditions are created there and more and more buds appear, which also cannot be born;
• The cause of the growth on the trunk of a plant can also be a fungus or mechanical damage to the trunk.

Thus, various fungal pathogens are the most dangerous for birch. They provoke a large number of wood diseases, including growths. But besides this, they can cause damage to the bark and leaves. Much less often, the causes of diseases are bacteria and even more rarely, pathologies in the development of the tree itself.

However, it must be remembered that external causes, such as damage to the trunks or contaminated environment make them the most vulnerable. Therefore, it is in our power to take care of nature:

1. Reduce emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere;
2. Do not hammer nails into trees when outdoors;
3. Do not peel live bark from the trunk for crafts;
4. Do not injure or damage the barrel.

Perhaps this way we will help the trees not to get sick.

What is chaga?

If you noticed a growth on a tree trunk, you were probably interested in what it is. In the case when the outgrowths are black and irregular shape, and the color of the inside is from brown to red, most likely it is a birch mushroom - chaga.

He is able to settle deciduous trees, for example:

1. Rowan;
2. Alder;
3. maple;
4. birch.

As a result of contact with the affected area of ​​the bark of a pathogenic fungus, chaga begins to develop in the stem of the plant. It looks like a comb-like growth with veins inside. Gradually, it absorbs the tree and penetrates deeper into the trunk. It happens that chaga encircles a tree in a circle. As a result, it dies.

Chaga grows for at least twenty years and at the same time feeds on birch sap and useful substances found in wood.

Unfortunately, such mushrooms often massively affect birch groves and deciduous forests. However, in traditional medicine they are highly valued. On their basis, decoctions, means for inhalation and other dosage forms are made.

They help a lot in the treatment of various diseases:

• Oncology;
• Women's and men's diseases;
• With weakened immunity;
• Joint problems.

However, before you start collecting tree fungus, read the contraindications.

What is a cap?

Cap is another type of growth on a tree. He is a bunch of unblown branches and buds under a layer of bark.

From the natural thorns on the body of the cap, small branches can grow, which is why it is popularly called the "witch's broom."

Most often, such lesions of the cortex can be found on:

• birches;
• Dubach;
• aspens;
• Nuts.

Such formations can occur on a tree as a result of a failure in its development. This may be influenced by natural conditions, and the harm caused from outside. Sometimes this tree disease is inherited.

Caps are extremely rare. In order to find it, it is necessary to examine up to several thousand trees.

Thus, it is a piece of modified wood. Craftsmen use it to produce various wood crafts because of the beautiful natural coloring of the insides. It should be noted that the burl is much stronger than the wood of the tree on which it grows.

Chaga and capa: differences

Having become acquainted with two types of growths on trees, you can easily see their difference:

1. The cause of the appearance of the fungus is a sterile, that is, a barren spore that has fallen on an injured plant, while a cap is the result of an improper development of the tree itself;
2. The mushroom has a corresponding structure, and the burl is made of wood;
3. The fungus has medicinal properties, burl is used for decorative purposes and is a valuable item for wood carvers;
4. Chaga eventually leads the plant to death, and with a burl the plant can live for a long time, since such an outgrowth, although painful for a birch, is not an infectious disease;
5. Chaga can be treated, but the cap can only be cut off;
6. Chaga is quite common, while cap is a rare sight;

Thus, the difference between these two types of birch growths is quite large. And now you can easily tell them apart.

What is a suvel?

Suvel is another type of tree growth. It is considered a cancer of the trunk and represents numerous shifts in different directions of the annual rings of the tree. It looks like a spherical growth on the trunk of the same structure as the plant itself and is covered with bark. It grows quite quickly and can reach huge sizes.

The reason for the appearance of such a wood disease may be a strong blow to the tree, its damage or fungus. Scientists have not come to a common conclusion on this issue. At the same time, it can be found on a birch much more often than, for example, cap.

In terms of density, the suvel is inferior to the burl, although it is often called a tree bone. This name is associated with its appearance in the context.

When cutting, the inner part of the growth shimmers with a delicate gloss and has a beautiful mysterious pattern of annual rings. The color scheme and pattern are not similar to each other. For these properties, cabinetmakers love suvel no less than cap.

Such a formation can be made artificially by pulling a tree trunk with wire. After a while, you will see a neoplasm on the trunk. But remember, even if a tree is able to live with such a pathology, any growths for him are a disease. And after you cut the growth, it will become much more susceptible to the influence of bacteria and fungi.

Thus, one of the tree diseases is the growth on the birch. What is the name of this or that education can be determined as appearance, and on the insides on the cut. In this case, the normal development of the tree in any case is already disrupted, which can lead to additional infection or death.

Video: birch growths - cap and suvel

In this video, dendrologist Leonid Lozhkin will show what growths are on trees and how they can be classified:

Kap - these are growths and thickenings that are found on the trunks of birch, maple, oak, walnut, pine, etc. There are such influxes in places of tissue growth:

Its name comes from the Slavic "cap" - head. And indeed the cap resembles on a tree human head. Cap is found on the branches of old trees, on trunks. There is also a kapo-root, this is a burl that formed at the root of the tree. The largest kapo-roots reach a diameter of 2m. Furniture is often made from capo root:

As it is an extremely durable and extremely decorative material, which is valued on a par with precious wood. The texture of its pattern on the cut is an interweaving of annual layers, the core of dormant buds in the form of concentric circles and dark dots. There are more dormant buds in the stem cap than in the capo root, so its texture is more expressive:

Burl is harvested only from fallen trees in the places of sawmills. After the burl is cut, it is freed from bark, knots, resin. Then the workpiece is boiled in a 5% solution of common salt. The duration of boiling depends on the diameter of the workpiece: up to 10 cm in diameter is boiled for about an hour, large workpieces are boiled for up to 3-5 hours.

Boiling is necessary to neutralize the juice inside the workpiece, so it dries faster. After boiling, until the workpiece has dried, it is cleaned of the remnants of the bark. Boiling makes the texture of the pattern more expressive. Then the blanks are dried for several weeks indoors, or for several hours in an oven or on a radiator. After that, the cap is sawn into plates. After that, they give all free rein to fantasy, making sure that your ideas do not contradict natural beauty wood, emphasizing its structure. Inner part products are chosen with an adze, semicircular chisels, cranberries. When finishing the product, excess knots are removed, trying to reveal the play of different layers of wood, polished with sandpaper. Small cracks can be puttied by mixing small sawdust with PVA glue. If desired, the product can be tinted with stains or natural dyes, such as onion peel, alder cones, etc. You can cover the finished product with varnish or wax mastic.

Beautiful caskets, smoking pipes, chess, knife handles are made from burl:

And also very decorative vases, candlesticks and just sculptures for decorating the interior of natural forms are obtained from the burl:

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A wide variety of handicrafts (caskets, cigarette cases, frames, etc.) have long been made from burl - this material of extraordinary strength and beauty. Excellent samples of burl, or, as it was called, "onion" dishes, dated from the 16th-17th centuries, are stored in the Armory of the Moscow Kremlin, as well as in the Zagorsk State Historical and Art Museum-Reserve. Looking at them, you will not immediately think that they were made with an ax, a scraper and a knife from a piece of wood, or rather, a growth on a birch.

The name of such a growth is cap, and it comes, as is commonly believed, from the ancient Slavic word "cap", which means head. At first glance, the burl growing on a tree really resembles a human head in shape. The burl can be found both on the branches of old trees and on the trunk itself - the stem burl. If we remove the bark, we will see that the “head” is all covered with tubercles, papillae, needles. The rarest and therefore the most valuable cap are usually found on branches. Usually its dimensions are small: 10...15 cm, but sometimes there are specimens up to 40 cm or more. To determine the value of the build-up, the master made a small cut with a damp cloth, or simply, impatiently licking his finger, ran it along the cut to see the main thing - a pattern that is unique in every burl “smelting”. Cap lends itself well to processing, does not warp, does not crack, does not swell, does not shrink, besides, it is so strong and weighty that some "craftsmen" wastefully make mallets out of it.

They find a burl on oak, walnut, black alder, aspen, but most often on birch. Sometimes there are several burls on one tree. Some experts believe that birch burl has the most beautiful wood, others - walnut. Kapokoren is nothing more than a burl formed at the root neck of a tree. Sometimes it protrudes above the ground. "Underground" burl (on the roots) can be found by the shoots that he lets out every spring. These non-viable, quickly withering shoots give black dots in the texture of the kaporon, located among the trunk fibers that are lighter in tone.

Kapokorni are circular, encircling a tree, and one-sided. The latter are most often formed on the south side. The largest of the kapokorn reach a diameter of up to 2 m, and weigh as much as a ton.

Oak and walnut kapokorn are especially large in size. Of these, more than one countertop can be made. The old masters of Vyatka used to paste over furniture with plates sawn from kapokorn. True, the root cap is not valued as highly as a real one that has grown on a tree trunk or branch. The wood at the root cap is softer, and the pattern is simpler. A large caproot is characteristic of birches aged 70-80 years, growing freely - in clearings or forest edges. As a rule, burl birches grow most often in mixed forest, usually along streams, small rivers, near lakes and swamps, and they usually grow not too close to each other.

There is a double at the cap - suvel. This woody fold is an influx, which sometimes forms at the site of a fold or break in a young tree. Suvel wood is also quite strong. From it, cabinetmakers make handles for tools, grind skittles, croquet balls. Distinguishing a suvel from a burl is quite simple, since the surface of the first is smooth, and on its cut (saw) there is no main advantage of the burl - a beautiful texture. On the same section, only long and rare zigzags of fibers are visible.

The cap is also called the "witch's broom" - this is a small formation on a tree, of a benign nature. Basically, it looks like a drop, from which thin branches grow, gathering into a bundle. In the section across, you can see the structure of catchy knots. Processing cap is not easy, although grinding and polishing still lends itself. As a result, the work has a very attractive appearance.

Some areas of the birch burl may give off mother-of-pearl. In industry, it is not of particular value, but is quite expensive due to its beauty and uniqueness.

Burl can sometimes be used as furniture veneer, but most often it is exotic wood burl. But from a birch burl they make beautiful caskets, women's small jewelry or hairpins, cigarette cases.

The birch burl has a high-quality texture, so a knife with a wooden handle is very beautiful and expensive.

Two identical caps cannot be found in nature, even the halves differ from each other. They can be seen in many different trees. In our latitudes it is very much appreciated birch burl. It does not grow large, the maximum diameter is like that of a large plate.

Due to the dense texture, it is difficult to make any drawing on the cap, and it makes no sense.

In order for the birch burl to be used for its intended purpose in the future, it is very important to assemble it correctly. To do this, we will acquaint you with detailed instructions:

Proper processing of birch burl

Very often, when sawing a cap, a unique and inimitable pattern is formed that the master does not want to change. In other cases, the cap after sawing is processed:

• Large caps are almost always sawn, as several items can be made from it at once. The cap is divided into several plates, the thickness of each depends on what item is planned to be made.
• In order to get an excellent drawing in the future, you should think over the cutting angle in advance. The more sleepers on the cut, the better.
• When the burl is fresh, the pattern is weak, but sawing is much easier.
• That the drawing manifested itself in full beauty, before making the item, the cap should be steamed well.
• You can steam the cap at home, fine sawdust is suitable for this. To carry out the procedure, they take a container of the right size (it is recommended to use an old pan, since the dyes that will appear cannot be washed off). Sawdust is laid out in a generous layer on the bottom, a cap is placed on top. It is impossible to lay tightly, there should be a gap of at least 0.5 centimeters. Sawdust is sprinkled on top in a thin layer.
• The laid cap is poured into a saucepan with well-salted water (mainly the bottom layer). Water should not completely cover the workpieces, but only touch them a little. Salt is taken with the calculation of 1 tbsp. l. for 1 liter of water. If there is a little more - it does not matter.
• The prepared cap is covered with a lid and put on a small fire. As soon as the mixture boils, they tell off about 10 hours, and let the cap steam well. To avoid trouble, they look into the container every hour, if necessary, add water.
• At the end of the day, the container is removed from the fire and left to cool.
• After cooling, the blanks are washed under running water and left to dry. Turn them over every few hours to dry evenly. The drying period lasts about 3-4 days.
• When the blanks are completely dry, they are again steamed according to the above scheme, dried again. The procedure is repeated up to three times.
• If, after steaming, the bark has not completely fallen off, it is carefully removed by hand.
• The drying procedure is preferably carried out on the street. The first day is turned over quite often, on the third day 1-2 times is enough.
• It is great if it is possible to carry out the final drying in a special oven several times.
• If the cap is very large (larger than a basketball), this type of processing will not work. The drying or steaming process can cause cracks and other damage.
• Boil as basically cut into pieces. Whole growths on a birch are processed as common tree- by sanding and varnishing.
• When evaporating, the burl plates acquire the shade of the emitted components, it can be very diverse (yellow with a golden tint, brown, etc.).
• After processing, subsequent procedures can be carried out, for example, varnishing or painting.
• Before varnishing, the surface is well polished with coarse emery, then fine. Wood dust can be wiped off with a soft cloth.
• The drawing will appear in all its glory if the cap is treated with wax.

In fact, working with a burl is very painstaking, it requires attention and a lot of time. But what is obtained as a result of labor is certainly pleasing. Birch burl makes excellent souvenirs that have an individual and unique pattern.