Betula alba
White Birch
Evergreen-Deciduous | Deciduous |
---|---|
Overall Mature Size | Medium |
Mature Height & Spread | 30-40' x 15-20 |
Exposure | Full sun |
Water | Medium Water |
Flower Color | Green |
Bloom Time | Spring |
Special Features | Attractive Bark, Attracts Birds, Butterflies, Desert Conditions, Fall Color |
Container Sizes | #5, #15, 24" Box |
Natural Growth Habit | Weeping, Upright |
Sunset Garden Zones | 1-12, 14-24 |
Minimum USDA Hardiness Zone | 2 |
Plant Type | Tree |
Betula alba is a medium-sized deciduous tree typically reaching 15–25 m tall with a slender trunk or trunks usually under 40 cm diameter (exceptionally to 1 m diameter) and a crown of arched branches with drooping branchlets. The bark is white often with black diamond-shaped marks or larger patches particularly at the base. The shoots are rough with small warts and hairless and the leaves 3–7 cm long triangular with a broad base and pointed tip and coarsely double-toothed serrated margins. The flowers are wind-pollinated produced before the leaves in early spring the small (1–2 mm) winged seeds ripening in late summer on pendulous cylindrical catkins 2–4 cm long and 7 mm broad.