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{{SPlantbox
{{SPlantbox
|familia=Betulaceae
|genus=Betula
|species=nigra
|taxo_author=L.
|common_name=Water Birch
|common_name=Water Birch
|Temp Metric=°F
|Temp Metric=°F
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
|image=Upload.png
|image=Birch blossom.jpg
|image_width=240
|image_width=240
|image_caption=River birch with male [[catkin]]s
}}
}}
'''Water Birch''', '''Red Birch''' or, '''River Birch''' (''Betula nigra'') is a common small [[birch]] native in [[flood plain]]s or [[swamp]]s in the [[Eastern United States|eastern]] [[United States]] from [[New Hampshire]] west to southern [[Minnesota]], and south to northern [[Florida]] and east [[Texas]].
It is a small [[deciduous]] [[tree]] growing to about 25 m tall at most. The [[bark]] is very variable, usually dark gray-brown to pinkish-brown and thickly scaly, but in some individuals, smooth and creamy pinkish-white, exfoliating in curly papery sheets. The [[leaf|leaves]] are alternate, ovate, 5-12 cm long and 4-9 cm broad, with a serrated margin. The [[flower]]s are wind-pollinated [[catkin]]s 3-6 cm long, the male catkins pendulous, the female catkins erect. The [[fruit]] is unusual among birches in maturing in late spring; it is composed of numerous tiny winged seeds packed between the catkin bracts.
{{Inc|
{{Inc|
Betula nigra, Linn. (B. rubra. Michx.). Red or River Birch. Tree 50-90 ft.: bark reddish brown, or silvery gray on younger branches, separating into numerous thin, papery flakes: branchlets pubescent: petioles scarcely ½in. long: Lvs. rhombic-ovate, acute, doubly serrate, pubescent when young, at length only on the veins beneath, pale or glaucescent beneath, 2-3½ in. long: cones 1-1 ⅔ in. long, cylindrical, ripening in May or June; scales pubes cent, with erect, linear-oblong, nearly equal lobes. From Mass, south to Fla. and west to Kan. and Minn. S.S. 9:452. L.B.C. 13:1248. G. F. 2:591. Gn. 55, p. 161 (habit). W. B. 63. H.T. 122, 123.— A moisture-loving, graceful tree, with slender, very numerous branches, and remarkable for its torn and ragged bark.
Betula nigra, Linn. (B. rubra. Michx.). Red or River Birch. Tree 50-90 ft.: bark reddish brown, or silvery gray on younger branches, separating into numerous thin, papery flakes: branchlets pubescent: petioles scarcely ½in. long: Lvs. rhombic-ovate, acute, doubly serrate, pubescent when young, at length only on the veins beneath, pale or glaucescent beneath, 2-3½ in. long: cones 1-1 ⅔ in. long, cylindrical, ripening in May or June; scales pubes cent, with erect, linear-oblong, nearly equal lobes. From Mass, south to Fla. and west to Kan. and Minn.— A moisture-loving, graceful tree, with slender, very numerous branches, and remarkable for its torn and ragged bark.
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}}
==Cultivation==
While its native habitat is wet ground, it will grow on higher land, and its [[bark]] is quite distinctive, making it a favored ornamental tree for [[landscape architecture|landscape use]]. A number of [[cultivar]]s with much whiter bark than the normal wild type have been selected for garden planting, including 'Heritage' and 'Dura Heat'; these are notable as the only white-barked birches resistant to the [[bronze birch borer]] ''Agrilus anxius'' in warm areas of the southeastern United States of America.
===Propagation===
===Pests and diseases===
==Varieties==
==Gallery==
===Cultivation and uses===
<gallery perrow=5>
Image:Riverbirch 8003.jpg|''Betula nigra'' Trunk, showing the bark pattern typical of most wild trees
Image:Betula nigra Heritage.jpg|The cultivar 'Heritage', selected for its white bark, here in fall leaf colors
Image:Upload.png| photo 1
Image:Upload.png| photo 2
Image:Upload.png| photo 3
</gallery>
[[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] used the boiled [[sap]] as a [[sweetener]] similar to [[maple syrup]], and the inner bark as a survival food. It is usually too contorted and knotty to be of value as a [[timber]] tree.
==References==
<references/>
*[[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]], by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
<!--- xxxxx *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381 -->
<!--- xxxxx *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432 -->
<!--- xxxxx *Sunset National Garden Book. Sunset Books, Inc., 1997. ISBN 0376038608 -->
==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/beni.htm ''Betula nigra'' images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu]
*{{wplink}}
{{commons|Betula nigra}}
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