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Betula occidentalis
Also called Black birch, Mountain birch, Red birch, River birch, Western birch, Spring Birch
Water birch is a deciduous shrub or small tree native to streamsides in western North America, usually found in mountain and drier areas. It is grown mainly for its dark, smooth bark and form, and it suits cool, moist sites.
Betula occidentalis, the water birch or red birch, is a species of birch native to western North America, in Canada from Yukon east to Northwestern Ontario and southwards, and in the United States from eastern Washington east to western North Dakota, and south to eastern California, northern Arizona and northern New Mexico, and southwestern Alaska. It typically occurs along streams in mountainous regions, sometimes at elevations of 2,100 metres (6,900 feet) and in drier areas than paper birch.
It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 14 m (46 ft) high, up to 25 centimetres (10 inches) thick. It tends toward epicormic growth, with many small limbs sprouting from the trunk and causing the wood to be full of small knots. The bark is dark red-brown to blackish, and smooth but not exfoliating. The twigs are glabrous or thinly hairy, and odorless when scraped.
Betula utilis subsp. albosinensis · Yellow birch · Himalayan birch · Betula austrosinensis · Betula celtiberica · Chichibu Birch · China birch · Hearleaf Birch · Korean Birch · Asian Black Birch · Erman's Birch · Japanese bog birch
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Betula occidentalis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
