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Common Birch

Betula pendula Roth

Biology

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One of the reasons why birch managed to colonise the newly emerging lands following the retreat of the glaciers lies in its abundantly-produced seed, as fine as powder. Even today, it remains what botanists call a 'pioneer' species, one of the first trees to occupy suitable ground. That said, it is not a long-lived tree; most specimens die or succumb to fungal attack by the age of 70. However, they do offer protection to slower-growing, longer-lived tree species such as oaks, and where left to regenerate birches can play an important role in helping to nurture a wood. The catkins appear early in spring and release their pollen in clouds during April. The leaves emerge shortly after, a bright emerald green at first and finally turning golden in autumn. Birches produce an abundance of sap in spring and a cut stump will continue to 'bleed' for weeks. In North America, a species of woodpecker called the sapsucker taps birch trees in spring by cutting small wells in the bark and drinking the sap which oozes out. In the UK, a similar technique is employed by makers of birch tree wine, a drink once believed to have medicinal properties, including those of curing kidney stones and skin complaints.
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Conservation

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Due to its invasive nature, silver birch scrub is often the reason why conservation work is carried out on some nature reserve sites. Birch colonises open areas quickly and, when left unchecked, can reduce the conservation value of habitats such as heathland. In consequence, there are no specific projects for conserving the species.
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Description

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One of the most familiar trees in the British countryside, the graceful silver birch is a genuine native, having been an early coloniser at the end of the Ice Age. Its papery-white bark – almost pink in young trees – distinguishes it from the downy birch Betula pubescens which has reddish bark that turns grey with age and is usually found in wetter habitats in the uplands. The leaves of silver birch are small and roughly diamond in shape. They are toothed on both sides and borne on slender warty twigs that shiver in the slightest breeze. Saplings also share this tendency to sway in the wind and, traditionally, foresters would remove young birches from plantations to avoid them flaying more valuable trees. As silver birch ages, its bark darkens and becomes rougher and more fissured and prone to attack by the birch polypore fungus Piptoporus betulinus. Birch wood has little strength as a timber although in the past it was used extensively in the Highlands of Scotland. The Highlanders made almost anything from it, including their furniture and houses. Traditionally, the suppleness of the branches and twigs was exploited for making besoms or 'witches' brooms. Smaller versions of this implement, stripped of bark, are still popular as kitchen whisks. Besoms were also used as fire beaters but, today, the Forestry Commission uses a less flammable material. Hardly surprising when you consider that birch bark and twigs are one of the best materials for starting a fire!
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Habitat

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This species favours dry heaths, downs and woods, but it will also grow in fens and marshes. It has been planted extensively as a show tree in parks and gardens.
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Range

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Birch is found throughout most of the UK and Europe and across Asia.
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Status

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Common in the UK.
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Threats

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There are currently no threats to silver birch in the UK.
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Associations

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Foodplant / gall
solitary larva of Anisostephus betulinum causes gall of live leaf of Betula pendula
Remarks: season: -8 or 9
Other: minor host/prey

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / miner
larva of Anoplus plantaris mines leaf of Betula pendula

Foodplant / pathogen
Armillaria mellea s.l. infects and damages Betula pendula

Foodplant / mycorrhiza / ectomycorrhiza
fruitbody of Cortinarius armillatus is ectomycorrhizal with live root of Betula pendula

Foodplant / mobile cased feeder
larva of Cryptocephalus coryli grazes in mobile case on fallen catkin of Betula pendula
Remarks: captive: in captivity, culture, or experimentally induced

Plant / resting place / on
adult of Cryptocephalus frontalis may be found on Betula pendula
Remarks: season: 5-8

Foodplant / open feeder
adult of Cryptocephalus nitidulus grazes on live pollen of sapling of Betula pendula
Remarks: season: early 5-9
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
superficial stroma of Daldinia loculata is saprobic on burnt wood of Betula pendula

Foodplant / parasite
live leaf of Erysiphe ornata var. europaea parasitises sparse conidial anamorph of Betula pendula

Foodplant / parasite
fruitbody of Ganoderma resinaceum parasitises live trunk of Betula pendula
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
fruitbody of Leptosporomyces fuscostratus is saprobic on dead, fallen, decayed bark of Betula pendula
Other: unusual host/prey

Foodplant / gall
larva of Oligotrophus betulae causes gall of reduced-winged fruit of Betula pendula
Remarks: season: -6(7)
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / gall
larva of Oligotrophus skuhravae causes gall of fruit pedicel of Betula pendula
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / gall
larva of Oligotrophus tarda causes gall of live, wingless or with reduced wings fruit of Betula pendula
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
fruitbody of Peniophora polygonia is saprobic on dead wood of Betula pendula

Foodplant / saprobe
sessile, clustered, erumpent through cracks in bark, sessile apothecium of Pezicula carnea is saprobic on fallen twig of Betula pendula

Foodplant / mycorrhiza / ectomycorrhiza
fruitbody of Phellodon confluens is ectomycorrhizal with live root of Betula pendula
Remarks: Other: uncertain
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
fruitbody of Pholiota alnicola var. alnicola is saprobic on dead, fallen, decayed wood of Betula pendula

Foodplant / parasite
hypophyllous Phyllactinia guttata parasitises live leaf of Betula pendula
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / mycorrhiza / ectomycorrhiza
fruitbody of Pisolithus arrhizus is ectomycorrhizal with live root of Betula pendula

Foodplant / saprobe
fruitbody of Pleurotus pulmonarius is saprobic on dead wood of Betula pendula
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
fruitbody of Steccherinum ochraceum is saprobic on dead, fallen, decayed twig of Betula pendula
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / gall
Taphrina betulina causes gall of twig of Betula pendula
Remarks: Other: uncertain

Foodplant / mycorrhiza / ectomycorrhiza
fruitbody of Thelephora palmata is ectomycorrhizal with live root of Betula pendula
Remarks: Other: uncertain

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Brief Summary

provided by Ecomare
Birch trees are common in the Netherlands. Silver birch is no exception, particularly on sandy soils. Birch woods in this country are native and provide a home to many animals. Like all birch species, the bark is generally smooth and white. Sometimes it peels off like a sheet of paper. Silver birch closely resembles downy birch. In fact, they often cross-pollinate, creating hybrids. Silver birch can withstand difficult conditions, such as lengthy dryness and somewhat acidic soil. Therefore, it is one of the species of trees used on Texel to protect pine trees from from the salty sea wind. It also serves as a fire belt in production forests. You don't want to trim this tree in the spring or summer. Due to the sap stream, the tree will literally bleed to death.
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Comments

provided by eFloras
The Eurasian weeping birch ( Betula pendula ) is extensively cultivated throughout the temperate range of the flora, and it has been known to persist or to become locally naturalized in several areas, particularly in the Northeast. In vegetative features it resembles B . populifolia Marshall, to which it is closely allied; it can easily be distinguished from the latter by its peeling bark, as well as by its mostly pubescent leaves with somewhat shorter, acuminate apices.
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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of North America Vol. 3 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Comments

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May easily be confused with Betula platyphylla; however, in that species, the branches are not pendulous and the wings of the nutlet are about as wide as the nutlet. The name B. alba Linnaeus, nom. rej. prop., has been widely and persistently misapplied in the sense of B. pendula; the lectotype of B. alba belongs to the species currently known as B. pubescens Ehrhart, which does not occur in China.
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Flora of China Vol. 4: 311 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Flora of China @ eFloras.org
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Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven & Hong Deyuan
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Description

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Trees , to 25 m; trunks usually several, crowns spreading. Bark of mature trunks and branches creamy to silvery white, smooth, exfoliating as long strands; lenticels dark, horizontally expanded. Branches pendulous; twigs glabrous, usually dotted with small resinous glands. Leaf blade broadly ovate to rhombic with 5--18 pairs of lateral veins, 3--7 × 2.5--5 cm, base cuneate, rarely truncate, margins coarsely and sharply doubly serrate, apex acuminate; surfaces abaxially glabrous to sparsely pubescent, covered with minute, resinous glands. Infructescences erect to nearly pendulous, cylindric, 2--3.5 × 0.6--1 cm, shattering with fruits in fall; scales adaxially sparsely pubescent, lobes diverging at middle, central lobe obtuse, much shorter than lateral lobes, lateral lobes broad, rounded, extended. Samaras with wings much broader than body, broadest near center, extended beyond body apically. 2 n = 28, 56.
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Flora of North America Vol. 3 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Description

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Trees to 25 m tall; bark grayish white, exfoliating in sheets. Branches usually pendulous, dark brown, slender, glabrous, shiny; branchlets brown, slender, glabrous, sparsely resinous glandular or not. Petiole slender, 2-3 cm; leaf blade triangular-ovate or rhombic-ovate, 3-7.5 × 1.5-6 cm, abaxially densely resinous punctate, adaxially glabrous, base truncate, broadly cuneate, or cuneate, margin coarsely or incised doubly serrate, apex acuminate or caudate-acuminate; lateral veins 6-8 on each side of midvein. Female inflorescence oblong or oblong-cylindric, 1-3.3 cm × 8-10 mm; peduncle pendulous, 1-2 cm; bracts 5-6 mm, densely pubescent, ciliate, 3-lobed, middle lobe ovate or triangular-ovate, lateral lobes recurved, slightly longer than middle lobe. Nutlet obovate-elliptic, ca. 2 × 1 mm, sparsely pubescent, with membranous wings slightly longer than and ca. 2 × as wide as nutlet. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Jul-Aug. 2n = 28, (42), 56.
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Flora of China Vol. 4: 311 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Flora of China @ eFloras.org
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Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven & Hong Deyuan
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Distribution

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N Xinjiang (Altay Shan) [Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia (W Siberia); Europe]
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Flora of China Vol. 4: 311 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven & Hong Deyuan
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Distribution

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B.C., Man., Ont.; Conn., Mass., N.H., N.Y., Ohio, Pa., Vt., Wash.; Europe; Asia.
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Flora of North America Vol. 3 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Flowering/Fruiting

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Flowering late spring.
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Flora of North America Vol. 3 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Habitat

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Temperate broad-leaved forests; 500-2300 m.
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Flora of China Vol. 4: 311 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Habitat

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Abandoned plantings, roadsides, edges of bogs, waste places; 0--350m.
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Flora of North America Vol. 3 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Synonym

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Betula verrucosa Ehrhart.
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Flora of China Vol. 4: 311 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Synonym

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Betula verrucosa Ehrhart
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Betula pendula

provided by wikipedia EN

Betula pendula, commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch,[2] or East Asian white birch,[3] is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found at higher altitudes. Its range extends into Siberia, China, and southwest Asia in the mountains of northern Turkey, the Caucasus, and northern Iran. It has been introduced into North America, where it is known as the European white birch or weeping birch[4] and is considered invasive in some states in the United States and parts of Canada. The tree can also be found in more temperate regions of Australia.

The silver birch is a medium-sized deciduous tree that owes its common name to the white peeling bark on the trunk. The twigs are slender and often pendulous and the leaves are roughly triangular with doubly serrate margins and turn yellow and brown in autumn before they fall. The flowers are catkins and the light, winged seeds get widely scattered by the wind. The silver birch is a hardy tree, a pioneer species, and one of the first trees to appear on bare or fire-swept land. Many species of birds and animals are found in birch woodland, the tree supports a wide range of insects and the light shade it casts allows shrubby and other plants to grow beneath its canopy. It is planted decoratively in parks and gardens and is used for forest products such as joinery timber, firewood, tanning, racecourse jumps, and brooms. Various parts of the tree are used in traditional medicine and the bark contains triterpenes, which have been shown to have medicinal properties.

Description

Silver birch
Silver birch has often pendulous twigs, after which the tree has received its scientific name.

The silver birch typically reaches 15 to 25 m (49 to 82 ft) tall (exceptionally up to 31 m (102 ft)),[5] with a slender trunk usually under 40 cm (16 in) diameter. The bark on the trunk and branches is golden-brown at first, but later this turns to white as a result of papery tissue developing on the surface and peeling off in flakes, in a similar manner to the closely related paper birch (B. papyrifera). The bark remains smooth until the tree gets quite large, but in older trees, the bark thickens, becoming irregular, dark, and rugged. Young branches have whitish resin warts and the twigs are slender, hairless, and often pendulous. The buds are small and sticky, and development is sympodial – the terminal bud dies away and growth continues from a lateral bud. The species is monoecious with male and female catkins found on the same tree.[6] Some shoots are long and bear the male catkins at the tip, while others are short and bear female catkins. The immature male catkins are present during the winter, but the female catkins develop in the spring, soon after the leaves unfurl.[5]

The leaves have short, slender stalks and are 3 to 7 cm (1.2 to 2.8 in) long, triangular with broad, untoothed, wedge-shaped bases, slender pointed tips, and coarsely double-toothed, serrated margins. They are sticky with resin at first, but this dries as they age, leaving small, white scales. The foliage is a pale to medium green and turns yellow early in the autumn before the leaves fall. In midsummer, the female catkins mature and the male catkins expand and release pollen, and wind pollination takes place. A catkin of Silver birch could produce an average of 1.66 million pollen grains.[7] The small, 1- to 2-mm winged seeds ripen in late summer on pendulous, cylindrical catkins 2 to 4 cm (0.8 to 1.6 in) long and 7 mm (0.3 in) broad. The seeds are very numerous and are separated by scales, and when ripe, the whole catkin disintegrates and the seeds are spread widely by the wind.[5][8]

Silver birch can easily be confused with the similar downy birch (Betula pubescens). Yet, downy birches are characterised by hairy leaves and young shoots, whereas the same parts on silver birch are hairless. The leaf base of silver birch is usually a right angle to the stalk, while for downy birches, it is rounded. In terms of genetic structure, the trees are quite different, but do, however, occasionally hybridize.[6]

Distribution and habitat

The silver birch grows naturally from western Europe eastwards to Kazakhstan, the Sakha Republic in Siberia, Mongolia, and the Xinjiang province in China, and southwards to the mountains of the Caucasus and northern Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. It is also native to northern Morocco and has become naturalised in some other parts of the world.[9] In the southern parts of its range, it is mainly found in mountainous regions. Its light seeds are easily blown by the wind and it is a pioneer species, one of the first trees to sprout on bare land or after a forest fire. It needs plenty of light and does best on dry, acid soils and is found on heathland, mountainsides, and clinging to crags.[5] Its tolerance to pollution make it suitable for planting in industrial areas and exposed sites.[10] It has been introduced into North America, where it is known as the European white birch, and is considered invasive in the states of Kentucky, Maryland, Washington, and Wisconsin.[11] It is naturalised and locally invasive in parts of Canada.[12]

Taxonomy

Tree in autumn
Tree in winter

Three subspecies of silver birch are accepted:[13][1]

  • Betula pendula subsp. pendula – Europe and eastwards to central Asia
  • Betula pendula subsp. mandshurica (Regel) Ashburner & McAll. – eastern Asia and western North America; treated by some botanists as Betula platyphylla[14]
  • Betula pendula subsp. szechuanica (C.K.Schneid.) Ashburner & McAll. – western China, from Qinghai and Gansu to Yunnan and southeast Xizang, treated by some botanists as Betula szechuanica[14]

B. pendula is distinguished from the related B. pubescens, the other common European birch, in having hairless, warty shoots (hairy and without warts in downy birch), more triangular leaves with double serration on the margins (more ovoid and with single serrations in downy birch), and whiter bark often with scattered black fissures (greyer, less fissured, in downy birch). It is also distinguished cytologically, silver birch being diploid (with two sets of chromosomes), whereas downy birch is tetraploid (four sets of chromosomes). Hybrids between the two are known, but are very rare, and being triploid, are sterile.[15] The two have differences in habitat requirements, with silver birch found mainly on dry, sandy soils, and downy birch more common on wet, poorly drained sites such as clay soils and peat bogs. Silver birch also demands slightly more summer warmth than does downy birch, which is significant in the cooler parts of Europe. Many North American texts treat the two species as conspecific (and cause confusion by combining the downy birch's alternative vernacular name 'white birch', with the scientific name B. pendula of the other species), but they are regarded as distinct species throughout Europe.[8]

Several varieties of B. pendula are no longer accepted, including B. pendula var. carelica, fontqueri, laciniata, lapponica, meridionalis, microlepis, and parvibracteata, as well as forms Betula pendula f. bircalensis, crispa, and palmeri.[13] Other synonyms include:[13][16]

  • The rejected name Betula alba L. also applied in part to B. pendula, though also to B. pubescens[17]
  • Betula brachylepis V.N.Vassil.
  • Betula cajanderi f. fruticans Kozhevn.
  • Betula carpatica var. sudetica Rchb.
  • Betula coriacea Pamp.
  • Betula cycoviensis Steud.
  • Betula ellipticifolia V.N.Vassil.
  • Betula etnensis Raf., sometimes spelled B. aetnensis[18]
  • Betula ferganensis V.N.Vassil.
  • Betula fontqueri Rothm.
  • Betula gummifera Bertol.
  • Betula hybrida Blom
  • Betula insularis V.N.Vassil.
  • Betula kossogolica V.N.Vassil.
  • Betula laciniata (Wahlenb.) Rchb.
  • Betula lobulata Kit.
  • Betula ludmilae V.N.Vassil.
  • Betula microlepis I.V.Vassil.
  • Betula mongolica V.N.Vassil.
  • Betula montana V.N.Vassil.
  • Betula oycowiensis Besser, sometimes spelled B. oycoviensis[1]
  • Betula palmata Borkh.
  • Betula parvibracteata Peinado, G.Moreno & A.Velasco
  • Betula platyphylloides V.N.Vassil.
  • Betula pseudopendula V.N.Vassil.
  • Betula szaferi Jent.-Szaf. ex Staszk.
  • Betula talassica Poljakov
  • Betula tiulinae V.N.Vassil.
  • Betula transbaicalensis V.N.Vassil.
  • Betula tristis Dippel
  • Betula verrucosa Ehrh.
  • Betula virgultosa Fr. ex Regel
  • Betula vladimirii V.N.Vassil.

Ecology

The silver birch has an open canopy which allows plenty of light to reach the ground. This allows a variety of mosses, grasses, and flowering plants to grow beneath, which in turn attract insects. Flowering plants often found in birch woods include primrose (Primula vulgaris), violet (Viola riviniana), bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa), and wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella). Small shrubs that grow on the forest floor include blaeberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) and cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea).[8] Birds found in birch woodland include the chaffinch, tree pipit, willow warbler, nightingale, robin, woodcock, redpoll, and green woodpecker.[10]

The branches of the silver birch often have tangled masses of twigs known as witch's brooms growing among them, caused by the fungus Taphrina betulina. Old trees are often killed by the decay fungus Fomitopsis betulina and fallen branches rot rapidly on the forest floor. This tree commonly grows with the mycorrhizal fungus Amanita muscaria in a mutualistic relationship. This applies particularly to acidic or nutrient-poor soils. Other mycorrhizal associates include Leccinum scabrum and Cantharellus cibarius.[8] In addition to mycorrhiza, the presence of microfauna in the soil assists the growth of the tree, as it enhances the mobilization of nutrients.[19]

Birch sawfly (Craesus septentrionalis) larvae feeding on silver birch, West Wales, July 2014

The larvae of a large number of species of butterflies, moths, and other insects feed on the leaves and other parts of the silver birch.[20] In Germany, almost 500 species of insects have been found on silver and downy birch including 106 beetles and 105 lepidopterans, with 133 insect species feeding almost exclusively on birch.[21] Birch dieback disease can affect planted trees, while naturally regenerated trees seem less susceptible.[22] This disease also affects B. pubescens and in 2000 was reported at many of the sites planted with birch in Scotland during the 1990s.[23] In the United States, the wood is attacked by the bronze birch borer (Agrilus anxius), an insect pest to which it has no natural resistance.[11]

Conservation

Betula pendula is considered a species of least concern by the IUCN Red List.[1] The synonym Betula oycowiensis (as B. oycoviensis) was previously listed on the Red List as vulnerable,[24] though it is now considered a synonym of B. pendula subsp. pendula.[1][13] B. szaferi was previously considered extinct in the wild on the Red List, but is now considered a form of B. pendula with the presence of a mutant gene, causing it to grow weakly and fruit heavily.[1]

Uses

Foliage coloring in autumn
A pair of Finnish traditional shoes woven from strips of birch bark

The silver birch is Finland's national tree.[25] Leafy, fragrant bunches of young silver birch boughs (called vihta or vasta) are used to gently beat oneself while bathing in the Finnish sauna.[26] Silver birch is often planted in parks and gardens, grown for its white bark and gracefully drooping shoots, sometimes even in warmer-than-optimum places such as Los Angeles and Sydney. In Scandinavia and other regions of northern Europe, it is grown for forest products such as lumber and pulp, as well as for aesthetic purposes and ecosystem services. It is sometimes used as a pioneer and nurse tree elsewhere.[5]

Silver birch wood is pale in colour with a light reddish-brown heartwood and is used in making furniture, plywood, veneers, parquet blocks, skis, and kitchen utensils, and in turnery. It makes a good firewood, but is quickly consumed by the flames. Slabs of bark are used for making roof shingles and strips are used for handicrafts such as bast shoes and small containers.[5] Historically, the bark was used for tanning. Bark can be heated and the resin collected; the resin is an excellent waterproof glue and useful for starting fires. The thin sheets of bark that peel off young wood contain a waxy resin and are easy to ignite even when wet. The dead twigs are also useful as kindling for outdoor fires.[27] The removal of bark was at one time so widespread that Carl Linnaeus expressed his concern for the survival of the woodlands.[28]

Birch brushwood is used for racecourse jumps and besom brooms. In the spring, large quantities of sap rise up the trunk and this can be tapped. It contains around 1% sugars and can be used in a similar way to maple syrup, being drunk fresh, concentrated by evaporation, or fermented into a "wine".[27]

Phytochemicals

The outer part of the bark contains up to 20% betulin. The main components in the essential oil of the buds are α-copaene (~10%), germacrene D (~15%), and δ-cadinene (~13%).[29] Also present in the bark are other triterpene substances which have been used in laboratory research to identify its possible biological properties.[30]

Medical uses

Standardized allergen extract, white birch, sold under the brand name Itulatek, is indicated for the treatment of allergy to tree pollen from birch, alder and/or hazel and have allergic rhinitis (with or without conjunctivitis).[32][33]

The combination of Betula pendula/Betula pubescens is used to treat epidermolysis bullosa.[34]

Cultivation

B. pendula 'Laciniata'

Successful birch cultivation requires a climate cool enough for at least the occasional winter snowfall. As they are shallow-rooted, they may require water during dry periods. They grow best in full sun planted in deep, well-drained soil.[35]

Cultivars and varieties

  • 'Carelica' or "curly birch" is called visakoivu in Finland. The wood is hard and burled throughout; it is prized for its decorative appearance and is used in wood-carving and as veneer.[36]
  • 'Laciniata' agm[37] (commonly misidentified as 'Dalecarlica') has deeply incised leaves and weeping branches
  • 'Purpurea' has dark purple leaves[38]
  • 'Tristis' agm[39] has an erect trunk with weeping branchlets
  • 'Youngii' has dense, twiggy, weeping growth with no central leader and requires being grafted onto a standard stem of normal silver birch.[40]

The cultivars marked agm above have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Betula pendula in Tromsø in May, Northern Norway.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Stritch L, Shaw K, Roy S, Wilson B (2014). "Betula pendula". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T62535A3115662. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T62535A3115662.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ European white birch, TD Tree Bee
  3. ^ English Names for Korean Native Plants (PDF). Pocheon: Korea National Arboretum. 2015. p. 373. ISBN 978-89-97450-98-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017 – via Korea Forest Service.
  4. ^ What's Wrong With Your Birch? Calgary Herald, 29 June 2010
  5. ^ a b c d e f Vedel H, Lange J (1960). Trees and Bushes. Methuen. pp. 141–143. ISBN 978-0-416-61780-1.
  6. ^ a b Vakkari P (2009). "Silver birch (Betula pendula)" (PDF). EUFORGEN Technical Guidelines for Genetic Conservation and Use. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  7. ^ Ranpal S, Sieverts M, Wörl V, Kahlenberg G, Gilles S, Landgraf M, et al. (July 2022). "Is Pollen Production of Birch Controlled by Genetics and Local Conditions?". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 19 (13): 8160. doi:10.3390/ijerph19138160. PMC 9266428. PMID 35805818.
  8. ^ a b c d Featherstone AW. "Silver birch, downy birch". Trees for Life. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  9. ^ "Betula pendula". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Silver birch: Betula pendula". Forestry Commission. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  11. ^ a b "European White Birch – Betula pendula" (PDF). USDA Forest Service. 1 September 2006. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  12. ^ Diamond J, Browning M, Williams A, Middleton J (2003). "Lack of Evidence for Impact of the European White Birch, Betula pendula, on the Hydrology of Wainfleet Bog, Ontario". Canadian Field-Naturalist. 117 (3): 393. doi:10.22621/cfn.v117i3.741.
  13. ^ a b c d "Betula pendula Roth". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanical Gardens Kew. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  14. ^ a b Hunt D, ed. (1993). "Betula". Proceedings of the IDS Betula Symposium 2–4 October 1992. International Dendrology Society. p. 51. ISBN 0-9504544-5-1.
  15. ^ OECD (2008). Novel Food and Feed Safety SET 1: Safety Assessment of Transgenic Organisms OECD Consensus Documents Volumes 1 and 2. OECD Publishing. p. 58. ISBN 978-92-64-05346-5.
  16. ^ Anderberg A (14 October 1999). "Betula pendula Roth". Den virtuella floran. Naturhistoriska riksmuseet. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  17. ^ Govaerts R (1996). "Proposal to reject the name Betula alba (Betulaceae)". Taxon. 45: 697–698. doi:10.2307/1224262. JSTOR 1224262.
  18. ^ Shaw K, Roy S, Wilson B (2016). "Betula pendula subsp. pendula". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T194831A2363997. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T194831A2363997.en.|date= / |doi= mismatch
  19. ^ Setälä H, Huhta V (1991). "Soil Fauna Increase Betula pendula Growth: Laboratory Experiments With Coniferous Forest Floor". Ecology. 72 (2): 665–671. doi:10.2307/2937206. JSTOR 2937206.
  20. ^ "HOSTS – a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants". Natural History Museum. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  21. ^ Brändle M, Brandl R (2001). "Species richness of insects and mites on trees: expanding Southwood". Journal of Animal Ecology. 70 (3): 491–504. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.2001.00506.x.
  22. ^ "Birch, downy (Betula pubescens)". Woodland Trust. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  23. ^ "Dieback of birch". Forestry Commission. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  24. ^ Boratynski A (1998), "Betula oycoviensis in IUCN 2009", IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.1, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
  25. ^ Anttila K (2005). "Suomen kansallistunnukset (Finland's national emblems)". Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  26. ^ "Perinteinen saunavihta (Traditional sauna vihta)" (in Finnish). Visit sauna. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  27. ^ a b Cox MD. "Firewood types: silver birch". WoodstoveWizard.com. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  28. ^ Lindahl J (9 January 2011). "Bark Bread is back". Nordic Wellbeing. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  29. ^ Demirci B, Paper DH, Demirci F, Can Başer KH, Franz G (December 2004). "Essential Oil of Betula pendula Roth. Buds". Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 1 (3): 301–303. doi:10.1093/ecam/neh041. PMC 538512. PMID 15841263.
  30. ^ E Kovac-Besović E, Durić K, Kalodera Z, Sofić E (February 2009). "Identification and isolation of pharmacologically active triterpenes in Betuale cortex, Betula pendula Roth., Betulaceae". Bosnian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences. 9 (1): 31–38. doi:10.17305/bjbms.2009.2853. PMC 5645545. PMID 19284392.
  31. ^ "ITULATEK : Standardized Allergen Extract, White Birch (Betula Verrucosa)" (PDF). Pdf.hres.ca. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  32. ^ "Regulatory Decision Summary – Itulatek". Health Canada. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  33. ^ "Itulatek Product information". Health Canada. 25 April 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  34. ^ "Filsuvez EPAR". European Medicines Agency (EMA). 13 April 2022. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022. Text was copied from this source which is copyright European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged.
  35. ^ Botanica's Trees & Shrubs. San Diego, Calif.: Laurel Glen Publishing. 1999. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-57145-649-6.
  36. ^ "Betula pendula var. carelica – curly birch". Arboretum Mustila. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  37. ^ "Betula pendula 'Laciniata'". RHS. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  38. ^ "RHS Plant Selector – Betula pendula 'Purpurea'". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  39. ^ "Betula pendula 'Tristis'". RHS. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  40. ^ "RHS Plant Selector – Betula pendula 'Youngii'". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 12 November 2014.

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Betula pendula: Brief Summary

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Betula pendula, commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found at higher altitudes. Its range extends into Siberia, China, and southwest Asia in the mountains of northern Turkey, the Caucasus, and northern Iran. It has been introduced into North America, where it is known as the European white birch or weeping birch and is considered invasive in some states in the United States and parts of Canada. The tree can also be found in more temperate regions of Australia.

The silver birch is a medium-sized deciduous tree that owes its common name to the white peeling bark on the trunk. The twigs are slender and often pendulous and the leaves are roughly triangular with doubly serrate margins and turn yellow and brown in autumn before they fall. The flowers are catkins and the light, winged seeds get widely scattered by the wind. The silver birch is a hardy tree, a pioneer species, and one of the first trees to appear on bare or fire-swept land. Many species of birds and animals are found in birch woodland, the tree supports a wide range of insects and the light shade it casts allows shrubby and other plants to grow beneath its canopy. It is planted decoratively in parks and gardens and is used for forest products such as joinery timber, firewood, tanning, racecourse jumps, and brooms. Various parts of the tree are used in traditional medicine and the bark contains triterpenes, which have been shown to have medicinal properties.

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