Trembling aspen aka poplar around here, is my go to fuel. It's not the best, but it's free and it burns and I haven't froze to death yet.
I find the wood smoke itself from seasoned poplar as aromatic, but anything with bark on, or not quite seasoned, smells about like a dumpster fire.
I have aspen and grey birch that were pioneer species dying off as the pine trees grow past them shading them. I let them both go if they are actually dead as they are too often punky and soft, but I've been cutting down the bigger grey birch at times because it is actually decent firewood that seasons relatively quickly. Being tall and spindly, heavy snows can bend them over and that is the death knell for them. Deprived of light they wither and die. I try to get them before they have been bent over too long.
If I put one length of Popple in a load of firewood, I would lose the customer forever. It just is not firewood here. Basswood is not either. The paper mills will take it, and so that is where it goes. It has taken me twenty years, but I have managed to rid my land of almost all of it. Now it is on to ridding my land of Ash. I am well on my way! (No Emerald Ash Borer here yet)
Betula populifolia - Wikipedia when they are younger they look quite white but the bark doesn't peel very well and the bark turns more grey when they get older. They don't seem to grow in wet areas like the yellow/golden birches do. Those are the only kind of birches I've found growing here.
ALL the Ash here is dead, has been for the past year, at least. Great firewood and a LOT of work for our tree service tho.... Good luck to ya ~Lissa
24/7 home wood heating family? Guessing... Not so much? Ash is kinda hard to beat for many of us. What do you prefer for quality firewood over Ash? Heck I am still running loads of. Shhhhh. PINE
billb3 looked it up different, I have white, yellow, silver and black birches here. That's the order in firewood silver is close to yellow IME
Is tulip poplar a desirable saw log? I just looked at a house that has a massive tulip poplar way too close for comfort, this thing is HUGE and straight for like 30 feet with no branches. Would have to go if I bought the house.