Curly Birch, Masur Birch, Karelian Birch — Same Wood, Three Names
If you've spent any time searching for this wood online, you've probably noticed it goes by at least three different names. That can be confusing, especially when you're trying to compare prices or figure out if you're looking at the same thing. So let's clear it up.
Curly birch, masur birch, and Karelian birch are all the same wood. Botanically, it's Betula pendula var. carelica — a naturally occurring variant of silver birch. One wood, three names, no real difference between them. Finland adds a fourth, which we'll come to.
Where Curly Birch Got Its Names
"Curly birch" is the English descriptive term, and it's the one most buyers now type into a search bar. It describes what you see: the curling, figured grain. North American and British woodworkers use it because it's intuitive. If you search curly birch, you'll find what you're looking for.
"Masur" is the Swedish and German term. It refers to the figured grain pattern itself — masur means something close to "burl-like figure" in Swedish. In Scandinavia it's the common trade name, and it's the one in our company name, because within the trade it's specific. When someone says masur birch, there's no ambiguity about what they mean.
"Karelian birch" comes from the Karelia region, which straddles eastern Finland and northwestern Russia. This area has historically been one of the richest sources of figured birch. Russian and Eastern European sellers tend to use this name, and you'll see it throughout older scientific literature and in the veneer and furniture trade. The botanical name carelica comes directly from Karelia.
And visakoivu is simply the Finnish word — visa for the figure, koivu for birch. If you're dealing with a Finnish forest owner, that's the word you'll hear.
Does the Name Indicate Quality or Origin?
Not reliably. Some people assume Karelian birch specifically means Russian-sourced wood, but that's not always true. Finnish sellers use it too. And masur birch doesn't mean it's Swedish — we're Finnish and we use the term.
What actually matters is the wood itself: the density of figure, the grade, where it was harvested, and how it was dried. A piece labelled Karelian birch from an online seller isn't automatically better or worse than one labelled curly birch.
In my experience, the name tells you more about the seller's background than about the wood. A Scandinavian supplier will say masur. A Russian supplier will say Karelian. An American reseller will usually say curly. They're all talking about the same genetic variant of silver birch.
One Exception Worth Knowing
Don't confuse curly birch with flame birch or birdseye birch. Flame birch (also called flamed birch) has a different figure pattern — long, parallel waves rather than the swirling, burl-like pattern you get here. Birdseye is a completely different phenomenon, with small circular figures scattered across the surface. They're all attractive, but they're not the same thing.
The wider term you'll also meet is figured birch, which covers all of them. It's accurate and it's useless for buying, because it doesn't tell you which figure you're getting.
When you're buying, ask for Betula pendula var. carelica if you want to be precise. Or just look at the wood. It's unmistakable once you've seen it.
If you want to go further: our post on telling real curly birch from regular birch covers the bark, the wet test, and the end grain, and the buyer's guide to knife scales explains what our grades actually mean.