E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Betula pumila var. glandulifera L. Regel
low birch (bog birch)
Betulaceae (Birch family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Distribution of Betula pumila var. glandulifera
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Species Information

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Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

General:
Deciduous shrub, 0.5-3 m tall; twigs densely hairy, slightly glandular.

Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, thick and leathery in texture, 1-4 cm long, stalks less than 1 cm long, 4 or more lateral veins, with 10 or more coarse teeth on each side.

Flowers:
Male and female flowers in separate catkins 1.5-2 cm long; flowers emerging before or with the leaves; catkins breaking up at maturity.

Fruits:
Nutlets with narrow wings, 1/2 the width of the body of the nutlets.

Notes:
This species apparently hybridizes with B. pendula and B. papyrifera in our area (Brayshaw 1996b).

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Wet to moist bogs, fens, marshes, meadows and seepage slopes in all vegetation zones; frequent throughout BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, rare in extreme SW BC; N to AK, YT and NT, E to PQ, and S to WY and OR.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Betula pumila var. glandulifera

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information	Value / Class
Site Information	Minimum	Average	Maximum
Elevation (metres)	980	1376	1785
Slope Gradient (%)	0	2	15
Aspect (degrees) [0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]	15	53	300
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric]	2	5	8
Modal Nutrient Regime Class	D
Number of field plots species was recorded in:	24
Modal BEC Zone Class	ESSF
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in:	BAFA(3), BWBS(3), ESSF(14), MS(1), SWB(3)
Source: Klinkenberg 2020

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Status Information

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Native	S5	Yellow	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer, the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Betula glandulifera (Regel) Butler
Betula glandulosa var. glandulifera (Regel) Gleason
Betula glandulosa var. hallii (Howell) C.L. Hitchc.
Betula nana var. glandulifera (Regel) B. Boivin
Betula pumila var. glandulifera

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Flora North America treatment for Betulaceae
Flora North America treatment for Betula pumila
Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
International Plant Names Index
Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Range and Status Information Links

Burke Museum of Natural History (Washington State records)
CalFlora
Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria records
Jepson Interchange
NatureServe Explorer
USDA

Additional Photo Sources

Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
Google Image Search
Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
General Botanical References for BC

Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-06-26 7:55:42 AM ]

Disclaimer: The information contained in the E-Flora atlas pages is derived from expert sources as cited in each section. This information is scientifically based. E-Flora also acts as a portal to other sites via deep links. As always, users should refer to the original sources for complete information. E-Flora BC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the original information.