Description

Leaves: Alternate; simple; 1" to 3" long; 3/4" to 1-1/2" wide; deciduous; ovate to diamond-shaped; doubly serrate margin or finely-lobed on some cultivars; acute apex; rounded base; glabrous; dark green; petiole 1/2" to 3/4" long.

Twigs/buds: Twigs slender; brown; glabrous to somewhat glandular (bumpy); usually hang down giving the tree its "weeping" appearance.  No terminal bud; lateral buds curved, pointed, brownish-black.

Flowers/fruit: Monoecious.  Fruit small winged nutlets arranged in a cone-like catkin; cylindrical; hangs down; 3/4" to 1-1/4" long; scaly.

Bark: First brown; later becoming chalky-white with horizontal lenticels, occasionally splitting horizontally into thin papery strips, but not like paper birch; bark on older stems develops rough, black, vertical furrows.

Wood: Moderately important where native, but not in U.S.  See water birch for general description.

General: Native to Europe and northern Asia.  Often planted in Utah.  Likes moist, well-drained soils but tolerates dryer soils and high soil pH.  Shade intolerant. May be insect and/or disease prone, especially when stressed.  Prefers abundant water, but may survive on drier sites.

Landscape Use: Beautiful tree with graceful, weeping habit and dramatic bark color; many cultivars.  Severely affected by borers in much of Utah.  However, I have seen many older, healthy, apparently borer-free trees in northern Utah (Box Elder and Cache Counties), so cooler, moister conditions may help ward-off borer infestations.  Zones 2-7.

Cultivars: 'Fastigiata', 'Gracilis', 'Laciniata', 'Purpurea', 'Tristis', 'Trost's Dwarf', 'Youngii'.

Characteristics