Cambridge Encyclopedia :: Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 68

silver birch

A slender, elegant, short-lived species of birch (Betula pendula) reaching 15–18 m/50–60 ft, with distinctive silvery-white bark. Native to Europe, usually in colder regions, it is often planted for ornament. (Family: Betulaceae.)

iSilver Birch

Silver Birch in winter
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fagales
Family: Betulaceae
Genus: Betula
Subgenus: Betula
Species: B. pendula
Binomial name
Betula pendula
Roth. pubescens, the other common European birch) in having hairless, warty shoots (hairy, without warts in Downy Birch), and whiter bark often with scattered black fissures (greyer, less fissured, in Downy Birch).

Land of the Silver Birch is a traditional Canadian folk song, though the birch referred to is actually a different species, Paper Birch Betula papyrifera.

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