European White Birch, Silver Birch                BET-u-la PEN-dew-la

• Deciduous broadleaf tree, 40-50(80) ft [12-15(240 m], pyramidal becoming rounded, graceful pendulous branching habit.  Young twigs thin and usually pendulous.  Whitish trunk bark, does not peel as easily as that of B. papyrifera, with age, trunk becomes mostly black.  Leaves simple, alternate, broadly ovate, sometimes rhomboidal to diamond shaped, wedge-shaped or truncate at base, 2.5-7.5 cm long, coarsely doubly serrate, slenderly tapered at apex; dotted with glands on both surfaces.   Yellow leaf color in fall.  Male flowers in (pollen) catkins, cylindrical, slender, 3-6 cm long; female flowers in catkins which develop into fruit cylindrical catkins ("cones") about 2-4 cm long.
• Sun or light shade, best with summer moisture in well-drained soil; will tolerate wet or dry soils.  Transplants readily.  Somewhat messy.  This species and its selections (e.g., 'Youngii') are considered susceptible to the bronze birch borer, especially if under stress, e.g., grown without summer moisture.  The bronze birch borer is common east of the Cascades but was essentially unknown in western Oregon before 2003; now it is becoming an increasing problem in the Portland area and Corvallis.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 2    Native to Europe, including Britain (where it is known as Silver Birch), and some high altitude parts of Asia.
• Oregon State Univ. campus: west side of Student Health Center.