Asia Black Birch, Dahurian Birch                BET-u-la da-VUR-i-ka

• Deciduous broadleaf tree, to about 40-50 ft (12-15 m) tall, rounded form, horizontal branching, single or multiple trunks, young twigs resinous, dark gray with white glands.  Bark dark gray or gray-brown, dense, peeling and curling, but not exfoliating, exposing inner bark (reminiscent of Betula nigra).  Leaves alternate, simple, 5-10 cm long and 4-7 cm wide, ovate-rhombic, margin unevenly serrate, apex acute, base wedge shaped or nearly truncated, dark green above, glandular-punctate (dotted with spots) below, 6-8 vein pairs.  Fruit catkins 2-2.5 cm long.
• Sun.  Will adapt to dry soils.  Reportedly resistant or rarely affected by birch leafminer but susceptible to the bronze birch borer.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 4       Native of northeastern Asia (Manchuria, northern China, Korea and Japan).