Betula papyrifera cv. ‘Renaissance Reflection’
Paper birch
This cultivated variety of American white birch, also called Betula papyrifera ‘Renci,’ is somewhat smaller than the original variety, Betula papyrifera. It was cultivated for resistance to the bronze birch borer.
Plants: Up to 50′ (15 m) tall and 25′ (7.6 m) around. The habit is pyramidal. The trunk (sometimes multiply stemmed) is typically bright white, up to 1′ (30 cm) in diameter, with a peeling, papery bark.
Leaves: Alternate, ovate, toothed, with pointed tips; dark green above, pale green below, yellow in the fall.
Flowers: Both male and female flowers occur on the same tree. Male flowers are catkins 2–4″ (5–10 cm) long. Female flowers are also catkins, 1–1½″ (2.5–3.8 cm) long. They appear from March to April.
Fruits: Female flowers are followed by drooping cone-like fruits containing numerous small winged seeds.
Online References:
9/14/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts 
9/14/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Fagales | Birch, she-oak, beech, walnut, bayberry, others |
| Family | Betulaceae | Birch family: birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams and hop-hornbeams |
| Genus | Betula | Birch |
| Species | papyrifera | From papyrus, once used for paper, for the paper-like bark |
Betula papyrifera cv. ‘Renaissance Reflection’ description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.