Description
Betula nigra
CT RG EcoR
Soil: Acidic, Fertile, Well-drained
Light: Full to Part Sun
Moisture: Average to Moist
Plant Height: 40 to 70 feet
Plant Width: 40 to 60 feet
Pests: None serious
Landscape Value: Great as a specimen tree or in small groupings. Good in low spots and along streams and ponds. Good for erosion control.
A showy winter display! Fast-growing and long-lived deciduous tree with slightly weeping branches. Single trunk trees have a pyramidal shape when young, becoming rounded as the tree matures. Lustrous dark green leaves turn yellow in the fall. Flowers appear in mid-to-late spring on separate male and female catkins. Male catkins are brown and drooping; smaller female catkins are green and upright. Satiny cream-colored bark exfoliates at maturity to reveal a cinnamon-brown layer. Prefers moist soils, but adaptable to drier sites. Consider using soaker hoses and bark mulch to keep root zones cool and moist. Requires little pruning, but, if necessary, prune when dormant. Avoid pruning in late winter and spring when the sap is running. Attracts seed-eating birds and small mammals. One of the most disease-free and heat tolerant birches. Tolerates clay soils, poor drainage, drier soils, black walnut, heat, and air pollution.
2-gallon pot, 2-3 feet tall
Note: This River Birch is a single stem tree. It is not the clumping form.
Photo credits:
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (photo by Julie Makin)
Missouri Botanical Garden
North Carolina State Extension (photos by Chris Kreussling and Jim Robbins)
