(Redirected from American Dwarf Birch)
'American Dwarf Birch' (''Betula glandulosa''), also known as 'Resin Birch' or 'Shrub Birch', is a species of
birch native to
North America, occurring in
arctic and cool
temperate areas from
Alaska east to
Newfoundland and southern
Greenland, and south at high altitudes to northern
California and
Colorado in the west, and locally south to northern
New York in the east. In the Arctic it occurs down to sea level, while in the south of the range, it grows as high as 3400 m altitude.
American Dwarf Birch is a multi-stemmed
shrub typically growing to 1-3 m tall, often forming dense thickets. The trunks are slender, rarely over 5-10 cm diameter, with smooth, dark brown
bark. The
leaves are nearly circular to oval, 0.5-3 cm long and 1.2.5 cm broad, with a toothed margin. The
fruiting
catkins are erect, 1-2.5 cm long and 5-12 mm broad.
It is closely related to the
Dwarf Birch (''Betula nana''), and is sometimes treated as a
subspecies of it, as ''B. nana'' subsp. ''glandulosa''. It is distinguished from typical ''B. nana'' by the presence of glandular warts on the shoots and longer leaf petioles.
Hybrids with several other birches occur.
References
★
Flora of North America: ''Betula glandulosa'',
RaangeMap
★ Hunt, D. (1993). ''Betula. Proceedings of the IDS Betula Symposium 2-4 October 1992''. International Dendrology Society.