Common Name: BIRCH FAMILY Habit: Shrub, tree; monoecious. Stem: trunk < 35 m; bark smooth to scaly, peeling in thin layers or not, lenticels present or not. Leaf: simple, alternate, petioled, deciduous; stipules deciduous; blade ovate to elliptic, generally serrate, generally +- doubly so. Inflorescence: catkin, generally appearing before leaves, often clustered; bracts each subtending 2--3 flowers, 3--6 bractlets. Staminate Inflorescence: pendent, +- elongate. Pistillate Inflorescence: pendent or erect, developing variously in fruit (see key to genera). Staminate Flower: sepals 0--4, minute; petals 0; stamens 1--10; pistil vestigial or 0. Pistillate Flower: sepals 0--4; petals 0; stamens 0; pistil 1, ovary inferior or superior, chambers 2, each 1-ovuled by abortion, stigmas 2. Fruit: achene, nut, winged or not, subtended or enclosed by 1--2 bracts. Genera In Family: 6 genera, 155 species: generally northern hemisphere; some cultivated. eFlora Treatment Author: John O. Sawyer, Jr. Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Common Name: BIRCH Stem: trunk < 30 m; bark smooth or scaly, aromatic, often peeling in thin layers; twigs puberulent, glandular, or both; lenticels prominent; winter buds sessile, 3-scaled. Leaf: glandular-hairy; blade 2--5 cm, wide-elliptic, base +- truncate to tapered. Staminate Inflorescence: 2--7 cm; bracts each subtending 3 flowers, 3 bractlets. Pistillate Inflorescence: 2--3 cm; bracts each subtending 3 flowers, 3 bractlets. Staminate Flower: sepals 4; stamens 2. Pistillate Flower: sepals 0. Fruit: many, in a non-cone-like catkin, not enclosed by bract, winged; bracts lobed, papery, released with but not attached to fruit. Etymology: (Latin: birch) Note: Important wildlife food; wood used for interior finishing; many species cultivated.
Betula glandulosa Michx.
NATIVE Habit: Shrub. Stem: trunks < 2 m; bark brown to gray, not peeling; twigs waxy-gray, with resin glands. Leaf: petiole < 6 mm, hairy; blade 1--2 cm, elliptic to wide-ovate, glands on both surfaces, base tapered. Pistillate Inflorescence: 1--3 cm; bracts resin-dotted. Chromosomes: 2n=28. Ecology: Streams, meadow edges; Elevation: 1300--2300 m. Bioregional Distribution: CaRH, Wrn; Distribution Outside California: to Alaska, eastern North America. Flowering Time: May--Jun Note: Furlow reports Betula pumila L. from California, but this author (Sawyer) assigns California specimens, including those identified as Betula pumila var. glandulifera Regel, to Betula glandulosa, reserving Betula pumila, with Betula pumila var. glandulifera as a synonym, for plants outside California. Jepson eFlora Author: John O. Sawyer, Jr. Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Listed on CNPS Rare Plant Inventory Previous taxon: Betula Next taxon: Betula occidentalis
Botanical illustration including Betula glandulosa
Citation for this treatment: John O. Sawyer, Jr. 2012, Betula glandulosa, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=15650, accessed on April 16, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 16, 2024.
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(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).
Data provided by the participants of the
Consortium of California Herbaria.
MAP LEGEND View all CCH records All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues.
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CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).
