Etymology: Betula: ancient Latin name
Plants: perennial tree to 80' tall, often several trunks, rounded crown; mature trees with smooth, grayish brown, yellowish, reddish, or creamy white bark irregularly peeling in shaggy pieces with time; dark, horizontal lenticels; twigs with no wintergreen taste or smell
Leaves: leaves rhombic-oval, edges coarsely doubly cut to toothed
Flowers: blooms in late spring
Fruits: conical to round, erect fruit clusters; scales often remaining into early winter; samara wings narrower than the body and usually widest near the top
Habitat: moist to wet; riverbanks, floodplains
Conservation Status: Native

Flora of North America: Flora of North America Floristic Rating: Coefficient of Conservatism = 6, Wetland Indicator = FACW USDA Plants Database: Federal Distribution and detailed information including photos Dan Tenaglia's The Missouri Flora: Fabulous photographs; detailed descriptions; color and leave arrangement key. University of Wisconsin - Green Bay: Trees: Photos, descriptions, information USGS - Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Wetland Plants and Plant Communities of Minnesota and Wisconsin USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS): Images of seeds, fruits, embryos, etc. Virginia Tech Dept. of Forestry, College of Natural Resources: detailed description and photographs Landscape Plants of the Upper Midwest; UW-Extension: Interactive guide providing information on cultivation including: soil, zone, growth rate, landscape uses, pruning, light requirements; with photos and Latin name pronounciation