Betula occidentalis : Water Birch

Taxonomy

Scientific Name:

Kingdom: Plantae

Division:

Class: Dicoteldonae (two seed-leaves)

Family: Betulaceae (Birch Family)

Genera: Betula (Birches) (Latin name for birch. A very ancient name. Perhaps from Celtic betu=tree.)

Species: occidentalis (western)

Synonym(s): B. microphylla, B. fontinalis

English Name(s):

Water Birch, River Birch

First Nation Names:


Description

Structure:

  • Plants are monoecious(bi-sexual).
  • Twigs often dotted with wart-like glands.
  • Bark shining red-brown. Sometimes peeling with pale horizontal lenticels (pores).
  • Shrubs to small trees. Usually with several trunks. 3-6 meters tall.

Leaves:

Reproductive Parts:

  • Flowers imperfect (single gendered) in catkins.
  • Fruiting catkins (female catkins) deciduous.
  • Male catkins1-4 per bud, male flowers in clusters of 3, with 2 stamens per flower,
  • Female catkins 1.5-4.0cm long. semi-pendent.

Seed:

  • Fruit are numerous small single seeded nutlets.
  • Nutlets winged.
  • Wings of nutlets about as wide as the nutlet.

Not to Be Confused With:


Biology

Physiology:

  • All of our birches can hybridize with eachother.
  • When B.glandulosa (Dwarf Birch) hybridizes with B.papyrifera (Paper Birch) the result is a shrub/tree that is very much like B.occidentalis (Water Birch). It has been suggested that B.occidentalis may be of hybrid origin.

Life Cycle:

Seasonal Cycle:

  • Catkins appear before the leaves.
  • leaves deciduous.
  • Leaves turn bright yellow or bright orange in Autumn.

Ecology

Animal Uses:

    Habitat:

    • Dry ridges and slopes.

    Uses

    Modern:

    Industrial:

    Medicinal:

      Food:

        Traditional Gwich'in:

        Folklore:

          Industrial:

            Medicinal:

              Food:

                Traditional Other:

                Folklore:

                  Industrial:

                    Medicinal:

                      Food:

                        Images

                        Typical Shrub


                        Catkin & leaf


                        Catkins & leaves


                        Typical bark


                        Illustration from: Illustrated Flora of BC


                        Range Maps

                        World Range: Boreal N.A.; from western James Bay to central AK, south in the west to CA, UT, and CO.

                        Prov/State Abrev. List


                        In Yukon: Occasional at lower altitudes, north to the Porcupine River.

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