Betula davurica
Common name: 
Asian Black Birch
Dahurian Birch
Pronunciation: 
BET-u-la da-VUR-i-ka
Family: 
Betulaceae
Genus: 
Betula
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • 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).
  • Chaska, MN: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • leaf and catkins, spring

    leaf and catkins, spring

  • leaf and fruit catkins, at seed release

    leaf and fruit catkins, at seed release

  • leaf and branches

    leaf and branches

  • large branch, bark

    large branch, bark

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark