Betula glandulosa
Common name: 
Dwarf Birch
Bog Birch
Scrub Birch
Pronunciation: 
BET-u-la glan-du-LO-sa
Family: 
Betulaceae
Genus: 
Betula
Synonyms: 
Betula nana var. intermedia
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
Yes
  • Broadleaf deciduous shrub, often spreading, to 10 ft (3 m) tall, twigs with large resinous warty glands, bark dark brown.  Leaves alternate, simple, 2-4 cm long, rounded to broadly elliptic, rather leathery, margin crenate-serrate or serrate, glabrous beneath, gland dots on both surfaces (visible only with high magnification); short petiole.  Male catkins near the base of twigs, 1.2-2.5 cm long, light brown. Fruit catkins 1.5-2 cm long, erect, wings of the nutlets narrower than the body.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 3    Native to North America and Greenland, in the Pacific Northwest, found in mountain meadows, bogs, and around springs and seeps.   Similar to Betula nana and has been categorized as Betula nana var. intermedia.
  • glandulosa: bearing glands
  • Oregon State Univ. campus: south (east) Peavy, north of Dryden Hall.
Click image to enlarge
  • developing cones, early spring

    developing cones, early spring

  • leaves and developing cones, spring

    leaves and developing cones, spring

  • leaves and developing cones, spring

    leaves and developing cones, spring

  • plant habit, summer

    plant habit, summer

  • leaves and cones, summer

    leaves and cones, summer

  • twig and buds, winter

    twig and buds, winter