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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Water Birch
| status = {{StatusSecure}}
| image = Birch blossom.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = River birch with male [[catkin]]s, <br/>[[Johnsonville, South Carolina]]
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Fagales]]
| familia = [[Betulaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Birch|Betula]]''
| subgenus = ''[[Betula classification#Subgenus Neurobetula - Costate birches|Neurobetula]]''
| species = '''''B. nigra'''''
| binomial = ''Betula nigra''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
'''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.
===Cultivation and uses===
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.
[[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.
==External links==
*[http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/beni.htm ''Betula nigra'' images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu]
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500258 Flora of North America: ''Betula nigra'']
*[http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=5749&flora_id=1 Flora of N.Amer-RangeMap: ''Betula nigra'']
[[Image:Riverbirch 8003.jpg|left|thumb|''Betula nigra'' Trunk, showing the bark pattern typical of most wild trees; [[Johnsonville, South Carolina]]]]
[[Image:Betula nigra Heritage.jpg|left|thumb|The cultivar 'Heritage', selected for its white bark, here in fall leaf colors]]
{{commons|Betula nigra}}
[[Category:Betulaceae]]
[[Category:Trees of Eastern United States|Birch, River]]
[[Category:Trees of Southeastern United States|Birch, River]]
[[Category:Trees of Eastern Texas|Birch, River]]
[[Category:Trees of Northern Florida|Birch, River]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = Water Birch
| status = {{StatusSecure}}
| image = Birch blossom.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = River birch with male [[catkin]]s, <br/>[[Johnsonville, South Carolina]]
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Fagales]]
| familia = [[Betulaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Birch|Betula]]''
| subgenus = ''[[Betula classification#Subgenus Neurobetula - Costate birches|Neurobetula]]''
| species = '''''B. nigra'''''
| binomial = ''Betula nigra''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
'''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.
===Cultivation and uses===
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.
[[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.
==External links==
*[http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/beni.htm ''Betula nigra'' images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu]
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500258 Flora of North America: ''Betula nigra'']
*[http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=5749&flora_id=1 Flora of N.Amer-RangeMap: ''Betula nigra'']
[[Image:Riverbirch 8003.jpg|left|thumb|''Betula nigra'' Trunk, showing the bark pattern typical of most wild trees; [[Johnsonville, South Carolina]]]]
[[Image:Betula nigra Heritage.jpg|left|thumb|The cultivar 'Heritage', selected for its white bark, here in fall leaf colors]]
{{commons|Betula nigra}}
[[Category:Betulaceae]]
[[Category:Trees of Eastern United States|Birch, River]]
[[Category:Trees of Southeastern United States|Birch, River]]
[[Category:Trees of Eastern Texas|Birch, River]]
[[Category:Trees of Northern Florida|Birch, River]]