Habitat

• native to Japan
• zone 1

Habit and Form

• large, deciduous tree
• 40' to 50' tall
• open habit
• fast growth rate
• medium texture

Summer Foliage

• simple, deciduous leaves
• alternate leaf arrangement
• up to 3" long
• dark green leaf color
• serrated leaf margin

Autumn Foliage

• yellow fall color

Flowers

• blooms in April
• not ornamentally important
• monoecious

Fruit

• small nutlets held in cylindrical catkins
• not ornamentally important

Bark

• young twigs quite warty and brown in color
• larger branches display showy, bright white bark
• bark does not exfoliate

Culture

• easy to grow
• does not appreciate excessive summer heat
• soil adaptable
• needs a moist soil for good growth
• avoid pruning from February through July to prevent bleeding
• best in full sun

Landscape Use

• casts light shade, good lawn tree
• specimen
• for showy bark
• near a deck or patio
• lawn tree
• campus tree

Liabilities

• bronze birch borer is a serious problem
• can suffer ice and snow damage
• not heat or drought tolerant

ID Features

• wary twigs
• white bark on main trunk
• alternate leaf arrangement
• serrated leaves up to 3" long
• yellow fall color
• non-exfoliating bark

Propagation

• by cuttings
• cultivars grafted on seedlings

Cultivars/Varieties

'Fargo' (Dakota Pinnacle®) - A very hardy selection out of North Dakota with a narrow, upright habit to 30' tall and 10' wide. The bark is white, and the plant has been marketed as heat/drought tolerant and borer resistant.

'Whitespire' - A form originating out of Wisconsin with white, non-peeling bark, good glossy green foliage and oval habit to 40' tall. While the plant has been marketed as being resistant to heat/drought and birch borer, testing indicates that the plant may not fare well in extreme heat. The bark also may not retain its white sheen with age.