Species

Betula pendula

Common Name(s)

silver birch

Authority

Betula pendula Roth

Family

Betulaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

BETPEN

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Habitat

Terrestrial.

Features

Tree with semi-drooping habit to about 25 m. Park smooth at first, silvery white and peppery, becoming dark grey and rough. Deltoid leaves to about 6 cm long with 5-7 pairs of veins and serrate margins. Male catkins up to 9 cm long; female catkins to about 2.5 cm, papery when ripe and separate into large numbers of winged seeds, wind-carried.

Similar Taxa

There are several other Betula species in cultivation, B. pendula can be separated from most of them by the rhomboid leaves and the drooping growth habit.

Flowering

September, October, November

Flower Colours

Green

Year Naturalised

1880

Origin

W. Asia, Asia Minor, Morocco

Reason For Introduction
Ornamental

Reproduction
Suckering in wetlands, seed.

Dispersal
People, seed.

This page last updated on 16 Nov 2016