OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Betula nigra   FAMILY Betulaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Betula nigra   FAMILY Betulaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Betula nigra

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 054-03-005:

Betula nigra   FAMILY Betulaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Betula nigra

 

COMMON NAME:
River Birch, Red Birch


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_241

        

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_beni_001_lvd

        

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_beni_005_lvd

        

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

JK Marlow    jkm120211_029

February    Spartanburg County    SC

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

JK Marlow    s060329_a

March    Greenville County    SC

Parking lot

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

JK Marlow    s060405_a

April    Greenville County    SC

Parking lot

Staminate flowers in drooping catkins near twig tips, pistillate catkins upright & cylindrical, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_b_nigra_bark_1

May    Talbot County    GA

Bark peeling into thin papery layers on young trees, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_betula_nigra_3

May    Suffolk County    MA

Arnold Arboretum

Older bark darker grayish-brown, dividing into coarser, shreddy plates, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

Gill Newberry    gn09_b_nigra_bark_m_tree

September        

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

Keith Bradley    kab_betula_nigra_3755

September    Lexington County    SC

Three Rivers Greenway

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

Sam Pratt    sbp_2769

September    Spartanburg County    SC

In cultivation

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

Paul Thompson    pstbetula_nigra

September?        

The lateral veins are parallel. — Clemson Extension

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

JK Marlow    jkm231123_6933

November    Spartanburg County    SC

in cultivation

The crown oft has a helter-skelter look: scattered major branches & smaller slender crooked ones, per Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007).

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

JK Marlow    jkm231123_6941

November    Spartanburg County    SC

in cultivation

Compare this November image with s060329_a (March) and s060405_a (April) above.

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_betula_nigra_leaves_7

November        

image of Betula nigra, River Birch, Red Birch

JK Marlow    s041201_d

December    Greenville County    SC

Parking lot

Leaves triangularly ovate; bases truncate or angularly wedge-shaped, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Betula nigra   FAMILY Betulaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Betula nigra   FAMILY Betulaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Betula nigra

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 054-03-005:
Betula nigra   FAMILY Betulaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Betula nigra

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

201

Tree
Perennial
Monoecious

Habitat: Riverbanks, streambanks, floodplains, sandbars, disturbed uplands, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring
Staminate calyx minute, pistillate calyx absent
2 stamens in staminate flowers
Inferior ovary
Unisexual

Flowers in catkins (staminate catkins elongate)

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Samara

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME: