How do you recognise Silver birch (Betula pendula)?

Leaf

Liliane Roubaudi, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Silver birch

Betula pendula Roth

Also known as: European white birch, Warty birch

Family: Betulaceae

15 to 25 m tall

Poor, acid soils, pioneer ground

Flowering: April

Full sun

Part shade

-35°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

Slender twigs covered in small resinous warts, which give it its name. Silver birch has twigs covered in small resinous warts and bark that peels in shreds, whereas downy birch has downy twigs without warts and bark that stays smooth for longer.

🍃 Leaves

Small, triangular, doubly toothed, with a drawn-out tip

🌸 Flowers

Pendulous catkins

🍎 Fruits

Small winged samaras released from the catkin

🪵 Bark

Silvery white, peeling in thin horizontal strips

🗺️ Distribution

Europe and temperate Asia; very common in France, a pioneer of poor soils and wasteland

🐝 Value for pollinators

Pendulous male catkins rich in pollen in spring, valued by bees at a time of scarcity

✂️ Horticultural uses

Planted as a specimen for its decorative white bark, in rows or in a pioneer grove

⚠️ Possible toxicity

No known toxicity; strongly allergenic pollen

🌱 Known cultivars

Youngii

Weeping birch with an umbrella-like habit, branches hanging vertically to the ground; grafted, and widely planted as a specimen in gardens in contrast to the upright type.

⚠️ Look-alike species

Silver birch

Betula pendula

Downy birch

Betula pubescens

Silver birch has twigs covered in small resinous warts and bark that peels in shreds, whereas downy birch has downy twigs without warts and bark that stays smooth for longer.

Silver birch

Betula pendula

Himalayan birch

Betula utilis

Himalayan birch has pure white to pinkish bark that peels in thin horizontal sheets, without black fissures, whereas silver birch has bark that cracks into black diamond shapes with age and slender, often drooping branches.

🌿 Other Betulaceae to discover

European hop-hornbeam

Ostrya carpinifolia

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.