Scientific name: Betula pendula Roth
Common name: Silver Birch
Description
Habit: A deciduous, slender tree to 30 m high; crown oval or pyramidical, open, with an irregular silhouette.
Leaves: Triangular, the end drawn out to a slender tip, hairless, margin toothed, with every 2nd to 4th tooth much longer than the others.
Flowers: In catkins, not woody, appearing with the leaves; female flowers in stiff erect catkins, 3 flowers in each bract, bracts 3-lobed, each group with 2 bracteoles, lateral lobes of catkins directed downwards towards the base of the bract, perianth absent; male flowers in long, pendulous catkins with broad bracts, 3 flowers per bract, with minute perianth and 2 stamens.
Fruits: Winged achenes.
Twigs: Drooping, brown; young shoots hairless and covered with white, round and raised glands.
Bark: Silver white, peeling open to irregular black fissures below.
Habitat: Rocky ground and woods.
Distribution: Rare.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No