Downy birch (Betula pubescens)

WróćBack
  • Drzewa Trees
  • Liściaste Deciduous
  • Liście pojedyńcze Single leaves
  • Ustawione na pędzie skrętolegle Alternating on the stem

Birch family (Betulaceae)

Tree growing to 20(30) m in height. Bark white from betulinol, smooth and usually not turning black at base of trunk. Young branches downy. Leaves 7-8 cm long, ovate or cordate, singly toothed and slightly hairy. Monoecious and wind-pollinated. Male inflorescences in hanging catkins, female shorter and erect. Infructescences mature in Aug.-Sep., while flowering takes place in Apr.-May, as leaves are developing.

Present in habitats that are more nutrient-rich and humid than those in which silver birch occurs. Also less light-demanding, hence present in alder carr, moist and marshy pine or pine-oak forests, boreal spruce forest and oak-spruce coniferous forest, as well as acidophilous oak woodland.

 

Descriptions devised by the team at the Independent Department of Forest Botany, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, i.e. L. Witkowska-Żuk, K. Marciszewska, W. Ciurzycki, A. Obidziński and P. Zaniewski