Cherry birch (Betula lenta) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 5

Species information

COSEWIC Status Report
on the
Cherry Birch
Betula lenta
in Canada
2006

Name and classification

Scientific name:
Betula lenta L
Synonym:
B. carpinifolia Ehrh. (a name not in current use; see Newmaster et al., 1998)
Common name:
Cherry birch, black birch or sweet birch; bouleau flexible
Family name:
Betulaceae (birch family)
Major plant group:
Eudicot flowering plant

Morphological description

Cherry birch is a medium-sized tree, up to 25 m tall and 95 cm in diameter, with simple alternate leaves with toothed edges and dark smooth bark with conspicuous lenticels. The bark breaks up into large plates and lacks the curling at the edges that is typical of other birches. Twigs and catkins are without hairs, distinguishing it from yellow birch. Yellow birch may sometimes have dark bark similar to cherry birch, but the bark of yellow birch has thin curling edges not found in cherry birch. The bark of cherry birch is strikingly similar to that of the escaped domestic sweet cherry, Prunus avium (L.) L. The latter species has become a common component of the forests of the Niagara Region and is often confused with cherry birch. Detailed technical descriptions and good illustrations can be found in Hosie (1979) and Waldron (2003); a brief description is included in Farrar (1995). A line drawing of a leafy branch with female catkins and a cluster of male catkins is reproduced in Figure 1 (Britton and Brown 1913).

Genetic description

There are no conspicuous barriers to gene flow within populations. Typical of the family, this species is monoecious with male and female flowers in separate catkins. There is no known evidence of self-incompatibility; fruit has been known to develop on individual trees.

Cherry birch is known to hybridize with Betula pumila to form Betula x jackii (Fowells, 1965). This species can be hybridized with yellow birch but natural hybrids are not known (Sharik & Barnes, 1971).


Figure 1. Illustration of the catkins and reproductive structures of Betula lenta

Illustration of the catkins and reproductive structures of Betula lenta (see long description below).

Image from Britton and Brown 1913 (not copyrighted). Catkins approximately life size.

Description of Figure 1

Leafy branch with female catkins and tri-lobed catkin bract and winged fruit (bottom left); cluster of three male catkins with individual male flower and bract with anthers (right).

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