Bark: birch, a watertight covering that can be removed to build vessels. The trees after which this watertight substance are named are birches, in the sense of “bark trees”. The best bark can be found on the structure called the “trunk” of the birch, meaning its dominant upward stem. The term (trunk), however, does not refer to the wood of that structure, but, again, to the birch (or bark), which forms a box (a trunk), which the tree fills much as a bee fills a hive with honey.

Paper Birch in Autumn