Betula pendula

• BOTANICAL NAME: Betula pendula (B. alba; B. verrucosa)
• PRONUNCIATION: BET-u-la PEN-du-la
• COMMON NAME: European White Birch
• FAMILY: Betulaceae
• NATIVITY: Europe, Britain
• GROWTH HABIT: Graceful, pyramidal form in youth, develops to upright oval with pendulous branchlets; 40'-50' (80') tall.
• HARDINESS: Zone 2-6
• CULTURE: Requires moist, well-drained, sandy loam soils; does not tolerate drought. Not reliable farther south than southeastern PA. Plants under stress act as magnets for borers.
• LANDSCAPE USE: Grows better in cooler climates and is not recommended for extensive use in southeastern PA on exposed sites. A bird-attracting tree. Transplants easily.
• FOLIAGE: Alternate, simple, 1"-3" long, broadly ovate or rhomboidal. Margin is doubly serrate.
• BUDS: Brown-black, pointed, 1/5"-2/5". Male catkins mainly in 2's, 2" inches long.
• BARK: Develops white bark early; becomes darker with age.
• FRUIT: Nutlet.
• PROPAGATION: Seed, cuttings.
• PESTS: Birch leaf miner, birch borer.
• CULTIVARS:
  • 'Dalecarlica' - Branches and leaves pendulous. Leaves deeply lobed and toothed.
  • 'Gracilis' - Small tree with pendulous branches and finely cut leaves.
  • 'Purple Splendor' -Foliage red-purple in spring, turning deep green.
  • 'Tristis' - Slender branches hand almost perpendicular to ground.
  • 'Yountii' - Slender, pendulous branches, no leader. Usually grafted or trained.
• Location