Life expectancy between 80 and 140 years, max height 15-20m, spread 15-20m, very fast-growing speed.
In Celtic mythology birch is the tree of beginnings and came to symbolise renewal and purification. It was celebrated during the festival of Samhain What is now known as Halloween.  Samhain was the start of the Celtic year, when purification was important, and people used to bundle birch twigs to drive out the spirits of the old year.
As birch is one of the first trees to come into leaf it was used as a symbol of spring.  The birch also has strong fertility connections with the celebration of Beltane, nowadays celebrated as May Day.  The birch was used on Beltane fires along with oak and was often used as a living maypole.
love and fertility goddesses, such as the northern European Frigga or Freya, have strong associations with Birch.  Eostre from whom we derive the word Easter was the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring.  she was celebrated around and through the birch tree between the spring equinox and Beltane.