Erman's birch

Family: Betulaceae. Naturally occurs in Kamchatka, the Commander Islands, Sakhalin, the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, the Kurils, and Japan. Protected in nature reserves. Grows in mountain forests, forming pure birch stands on heavily stony slopes or in the subalpine belt.

Light-loving, restative mesophyte, microtherm, mesotroph, edifier of park birch groves and an associate of the stands of coniferous-broadleaved forests. In cultivation in the botanical gardens of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Vladivostok, Arkhangelsk.

Tree up to 15 m tall, with a widely spreading crown. The bark of the trunk variously fissuring, dark gray, brownish, chestnut-gray or yellow-gray in color, often hanging in shreds on the trunks and branches. Shoots densely warty. Leaves ovate (14 x 10 cm), dark green above, paler beneath. Not demanding regarding soil. Has its second name because of the ability to develop on rocky sites where other birches do not grow.

More suitable for solitary and group plantings. In cultivation since 1880.

based on materials from the website www.ultradrome.narod.ru