River Birch
Betula nigra
Summary 6
Betula nigra (black birch, river birch, water birch) is a species of birch native to the Eastern United States from New Hampshire west to southern Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and west to Texas.
Betula nigra is a deciduous tree, known to grow to 80–100 ft with a trunk 20 to 60 inches in diameter, although the specimins in the Reservation are all much younger and smaller than this. The base of the tree is often divided into multiple slender trunks. The leaves are alternate, 1 1/2 to 3 1/4 inches long and 1 - 2 inches wide, with a serrated margin and five to twelve pairs of veins. The upper surface of the leaf is dark green in color, while the underside can be described as having a light yellow-green color The leaves turn yellow in Autumn. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins 1 1/4 - 2 1/4 inches long, the male catkins pendulous, the female catkins erect.
B. nigra is tolerant of flooding, and commonly found naturally in flood plains and/or swamps. It is a popular tree for landscaping because of the striking salmon-pink peeling bark found on younger trees. In the Reservation, it has been widely planted along trails and near parking lots.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Michael Blacketter, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Michael Blacketter
- (c) Lisa Wiencek Gerbec, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Lisa Wiencek Gerbec
- (c) David Seibold, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/stillugly/49692371356/
- (c) Katja Schulz, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/treegrow/39705405805/
- (c) Plant Image Library, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/138014579@N08/26512387295/
- Adapted by Tom Pollard from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betula_nigra
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- eFloras.org
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- Go Botany
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- Maryland Biodiversity Project
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- NBN Atlas
- OregonFlora.org
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- VASCAN by Canadensys
- World Flora Online
