Home > White Birch

White Birch (Betula pubescens) is an abundant treeThis article is about the biological organisms known as trees. For other meanings of the word see tree (disambiguation). oak tree in Denmark A tree can be defined as a large perennial woody plant. Though there is no set definition of size, it is generally throughout northern EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se, northern AsiaThe continent of Asia is defined by subtracting Europe and Africa from the great land mass of Africa-Eurasia. The boundaries are vague, especially between Asia and Europe: Asia and Africa meet somewhere near the Suez Canal. The boundary between Asia and E and also GreenlandThis article is about Greenland, the island dependency of Denmark. For information about the town of Greenland, see Greenland, New Hampshire. Greenland ( Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat "The Land of the Greenlanders (Kalaallit)"; Danish: Gronland , an Arcti. It is also sometimes known as European White Birch, Downy birch or Hairy birch. It is not a large tree, rarely exceeding 15-20 m tall and often less.

It is distinguished from the closely related Silver BirchSilver Birch Betula pendula is a widespread European birch, though in southern Europe it is only found at higher altitudes. Its range extends into southwest Asia in the mountains of northern Turkey and the Caucasus. The closely related Siberian Silver Bir (B. pendula) in having smooth, downy shoots (hairless and warty in Silver Birch), and less bright white, often dull greyish bark but rarely with any black fissures (whiter, often with conspicuous black fissures, in Silver Birch). It is also distinguished cytologicallyCytology (also known as Cell biology) is the scientific study of cells. Cytologists/cell biologists study cell structure (e. the organelles they contain), life cycle, division and function ( physiology) and eventual death. The word Cytology comes from the, Silver Birch being diploidDiploid cells have two copies of each somatic chromosome (non-sex chromosomes), usually one from the mother and one from the father. Most somatic cells (body cells) of higher organisms are diploid or polyploid (three or more copies of each chromosome, oft (with two sets of chromosomes), whereas White Birch is tetraploid (four sets of chromosomes). The two have differences in habitat requirements, with White Birch commoner on wet, poorly drained sites such as clay soils and peat bogs, and Silver Birch found mainly on dry, sandy soils. Many North American texts treat the two species as conspecific (and cause confusion by combining the vernacular name 'White Birch' of one with the scientific name B. pendula of the other), but they are regarded as distinct species throughout Europe.

It extends further north into the Arctic than any other broadleaf tree. These subarctic populations are usually small and very contorted, and are often distinguished as Arctic White Birch, Betula pubescens subsp. tortuosa. This subspecies is notable as being the only tree native to Greenland, where large specimens can reach 5-6 m tall.

See also Birch and Birch classification.