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Wickerbottom Portrait
Fagales of some kind. It bears fruit when fully grown.

Wickerbottom

Birchnut Trees are Plants found in the Reign of Giants DLC. They are found mainly in Grasslands and frequently in Deciduous Forests. When chopped, they will yield 1-3 Logs and up to 2 Birchnuts, depending on the Season.

If cut in its prime (the tall form) it will yield 2 Birchnuts in Autumn (colored leaves), 1 in Spring and Summer (green leaves), and no Birchnuts in Winter (leafless). Standing under one offers moderate Wetness Protection from Rain, and slows Overheating.

Brain Behavior[]

Birchnut Trees have a 3-stage life cycle (short, medium, and tall) which they continuously cycle through. Once cut, stumps do not regrow into trees nor do new trees spawn naturally; the only way to get more trees is to plant them with Birchnuts. Planting a Birchnut will produce a sapling tree which will grow into a small Birchnut Tree and follow the life cycle until it is chopped down or burned. The number of strikes needed to chop down a tree varies by its size and state. Basic Axe can chop down small trees in 5, medium trees in 10, and large trees in 15 strikes. Burned trees take a single strike to be chopped down.

Shipwrecked iconHamlet icon Shipwrecked & Hamlet[]

In the Shipwrecked DLC and Hamlet DLC, Birchnut Trees will not gain colored leaves in any of the seasons, and neither will they lose their leaves. To get more Birchnuts, the player has to kill Poison Birchnut Trees and Birchnutters, travel to a Reign of Giants world by Seaworthy or Skyworthy, or buy them in the Miss Sow's Floral Arrangements shop.

Poison Birchnut Tree[]

Wolfgang Portrait
Is big and angry tree.

Wolfgang

When cutting down a fully sized Birchnut Tree that drops Birchnuts from day 3 and after, there is a small chance that other Birchnut Trees in the area will "awaken" and begin attacking anything in the area, unless it is Winter. This chance increases with the number of days survived from 3% on day 3 to 33% on day 70. After enough time passes (minimum one day,) Poison Birchnut Trees will calm down and return to their normal state. The player can also plant Birchnuts nearby to attempt to pacify them.

A Poison Birchnut Tree can spawn up to 5 Birchnutters to attack the player or nearby Mobs. They will also do a root attack, behaving similarly to tentacles, that will attempt to home in on the player's position.

Unlike the somewhat similar Treeguards, Poison Birchnut Trees have to be felled with an Axe (12 swings, 18 in Don't Starve Together icon) or any other method that will destroy the average tree. Torching a Poison Birchnut Tree spawns another, final wave of Birchnutters.

A Poison Birchnut Tree will drop 1 Living Log and 3 Birchnuts and has a 20% chance to drop an additional Living Log or Nightmare Fuel. Its stump can also be dug up to yield an additional Living Log.

Don't Starve Together icon Don't Starve Together[]

In Don't Starve Together, Poison Birchnut Trees require 18 swings to be felled with an Axe, and the chances for them to spawn is dependent on the season. Birchnut Trees will start losing their leaves during the last 3 days of autumn.

Season Chance by World Age
4-20 21-35 36-70 71+
Autumn 3% 7.5% 15% 16.8%
Winter 0% 0% 0% 0%
Spring 1.6% 4% 8% 8.96%
Summer 0.66% 1.65% 3.3% 3.696%

Prototype Tips[]

  • Birchnut Trees are a good source of Living Logs, Nightmare Fuel and Birchnuts rather than a source of Logs due to the large amount of Poison Birchnut Trees that can spawn from a minimal amount of chopping.
  • It is advised to bring a group of befriended Pigs when chopping Birchnut Trees. As soon as a Poison Birchnut Tree is spawned, the allied Pigs will attempt to chop it down as well as fight the Birchnutters.
  • It is best to chop down Birchnut Trees in Autumn, since they drop an extra Birchnut, which means the player can more efficiently make a Birchnut Tree farm, or plant one Birchnut and use the other for a Trail Mix.
  • Birchnutters can be an effective way to gather Birchnuts and Twigs.
  • If left for a while (but not too long), Poison Birchnut Trees will stop attacking and spawning Birchnutters, making them safer to chop down.
  • Mobs like the Bearger and Clockwork Rook will cut down Poison Birchnut Trees as easily as regular trees, making them especially effective for farming Living Logs.
  • The Weather Pain is a good tool to dispose of Poison Birchnut Trees due to its long-range tree-chopping abilities.
  • In the Hamlet DLC, Birchnut Seeds only cost one Oinc, therefore one can use surplus Oincs to plant a Birchnut Tree farm, the more seeds are bought and planted, the more likely the player is to get the attention of a Poison Birchnut Tree upon chopping a Birchnut Tree down.

Placeholder Trivia[]

  • The name "Birchnut" is a portmanteau of the words "birch" and "chestnut".
    • Birchnuts also look similar to chestnuts, and the bark of the Birchnut tree looks similar to that of the birch tree.
    • It may also be a pun on "beechnuts", the fruit and seeds of the beech tree. Wickerbottom says the species belongs in Fagales, which is the taxonomic order that includes beeches, chestnuts, and birches. Birchnuts also resemble beechnuts.
  • In the first version of Reign of Giants, Birchnut Trees were simply named "Deciduous Trees". It's still named as such in the game's files.
  • Chopping a single Poison Birchnut Tree can spawn even more Poison Birchnut Trees. This is because Poison Birchnut Trees are considered fully grown.
  • Pigs, and other mobs that are able to smash structures, are the only mobs that can destroy Poison Birchnut Trees.
  • The similarities between the Poison Birchnut Trees and the Treeguards has led people to refer to them as 'Birchnut Treeguards' and 'Birchguards'.
  • Despite having white bark, these trees drop normal logs with brown bark.
  • During Autumn, the tree's leaves will change colors (red, brown, or orange) and can be seen falling off. This mimics real world deciduous tree color changes in the fall or autumn.
  • Wilson's quote upon examination of a Birchnut Tree is different from what he would say about an Evergreen ("It's all Leafy. Most of the time." compared to "It's all Piney.").
  • Birchnut Trees resemble the truffula trees from The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.
  • Woodie's power extends to Poison Birchnut Trees; he can cut one in six swings.
  • In the World Customization Screen, Poison Birchnut Trees are also called Deciduous Monsters.

Mosquito Bugs[]

  • If the player is too far away from the Birchnut Tree when it turns passive again, it will continue to appear with the poison build and drop the poison build's loot, though it will no longer fight the player.
  • If the player survives a night near the limits of the tree's attack range, there is a slight possibility that the tree will be pacified the next day.
  • If the player waits until dusk, sometimes the tree does not aggro and can be cut down without any consequences.
  • All Birchnut Trees may fail to grow leaves after winter. Birchnuts planted in any season except winter will grow leaves. Keep some Birchnuts in the ice box during winter to plant in the spring or try to get a Birchnut from a Catcoon to replenish trees with leaves. Burn for charcoal or chop for wood trees that have no leaves, they will not get their leaves back and will not drop Birchnuts when chopped.

Blueprint Gallery[]

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