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

Betula pumila L.
bog birch (glandular birch; low birch; scrub birch; swamp birch)
Betulaceae (Birch family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Curtis Bjork  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #16469)

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Distribution of Betula pumila
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SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Betula pumila var. glandulifera

Species Information

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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

USDA Species Characteristics

Flower Colour:
Yellow
Blooming Period:
Mid Spring
Source:  The USDA

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

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

Minimum

Average

Maximum
Elevation (metres) 410 983 1880
Slope Gradient (%) 0 3 80
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W] 		22 327 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		0 6 8
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class		 C
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:		 80
Modal BEC Zone Class
 SBS
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: BWBS(12), ESSF(6), ICH(4), IDF(1), MS(4), SBPS(15), SBS(29), SWB(1)

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.

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 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: 2024-12-09 2:12:56 PM ]
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