Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Fagales > Betulaceae > Betula pubescens > Betula pubescens pubescens

Betula pubescens pubescens (downy birch)

Synonyms: Betula nemorosa; Betula odorata var. obscura; Betula pubescens var. obscura

Attributes

Air Quality Improvement [1]  Low
Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-High
Carbon Capture [1]  Medium-Low
Shade Percentage [1]  82 %
Temperature Reduction [1]  Medium
Wind Reduction [1]  Medium-Low
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Flower Type [2]  Monoecious
Janka Hardness [3]  1010 lbf (458 kgf) Soft
Leaf Type [2]  Deciduous
Lifespan [4]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Wind
Specific Gravity [6]  0.525
Structure [2]  Tree
Usage [2]  The bark is used to make drinking vessels, canoe skins, roofing tiles etc. It is waterproof, durable, tough and resinous; Only the outer bark is removed, this does not kill the tree. It is most easily removed in late spring to early summer. The bark was pressed flat and stored until the following spring. When required for making canoes it would be heated over a fire to make it pliable for shaping to the canoe frame; A pioneer species, it readily invades old fields, cleared or burnt-over land and creates conditions suitable for other woodland trees to become established. Since it is relatively short-lived and intolerant of shade, it is eventually out-competed by these trees; A tar-oil is obtained from the white bark in spring. It has fungicidal properties and is also used as an insect repellent; It makes a good shoe polish; Another report says that an essential oil is obtained from the bark and this, called 'Russian Leather' has been used as a perfume; A glue is made from the sap. Cordage can be made from the fibres of the inner bark. This inner bark can also be separated into thin layers and used as a substitute for oiled paper; A decoction of the inner bark is used to preserve cordage, it is rich in tannin. The bark contains up to 16% tannin; A brown dye is obtained from the inner bark. An oil similar to Wintergreen oil (obtained from Gaultheria procumbens) is obtained from the inner bark; It is used medicinally and also makes a refreshing tea; The young branches are very flexible and are used to make whisks, besoms etc; They are also used in thatching and to make wattles; The leaves are a good addition to the compost heap, improving fermentation; A black paint is obtained from the soot of the plant; A high quality charcoal is obtained from the bark. It is used by artists, painters etc. Wood - soft, light, durable. It is used for a wide range of purposes including furniture, tool handles, carving, toys etc; It is a source of charcoal that is used by artists and is also pulped and used for making paper;
Height [2]  66 feet (20 m)
Width [2]  33 feet (10 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 4 Low Temperature: -30 F° (-34.4 C°) → -20 F° (-28.9 C°)
Hardiness Zone Maximum [1]  USDA Zone: 7 Low Temperature: 0 F° (-17.8 C°) → 10 F° (-12.2 C°)
Light Preference [5]  Mostly Sunny
Soil Acidity [5]  Mostly Acid
Soil Fertility [5]  Mostly Infertile
Soil Moisture [5]  Damp
Water Use [1]  High
View Plants For A Future Record : Betula pubescens pubescens

Protected Areas

Ecosystems

Predators

Providers

Consumers

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1i-Tree Species v. 4.0, developed by the USDA Forest Service's Northern Research Station and SUNY-ESF using the Horticopia, Inc. plant database.
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3Wood Janka Hardness Scale/Chart J W Morlan's Unique Wood Gifts
♦ 4PLANTATT - Attributes of British and Irish Plants: Status, Size, Life History, Geography and Habitats, M. O. Hill, C. D. Preston & D. B. Roy, Biological Records Centre, NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (2004)
♦ 5ECOFACT 2a Technical Annex - Ellenberg’s indicator values for British Plants, M O Hill, J O Mountford, D B Roy & R G H Bunce (1999)
♦ 6Chave J, Coomes D, Jansen S, Lewis SL, Swenson NG, Zanne AE (2009) Towards a worldwide wood economics spectrum. Ecology Letters 12: 351-366. Zanne AE, Lopez-Gonzalez G, Coomes DA, Ilic J, Jansen S, Lewis SL, Miller RB, Swenson NG, Wiemann MC, Chave J (2009) Data from: Towards a worldwide wood economics spectrum. Dryad Digital Repository.
♦ 7HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 8Ecology of Commanster
♦ 9Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
♦ 10Food eaten by the free-living European bison in Białowieża Forest, Zofia GĘBCZYŃSKA, Marek GĘBCZYŃSKI and Ewa MARTYNOWICZ, Acta Theriologica 36 (3-4), 307-313, 1991.
♦ 11Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 12Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0