| Scientific Name: | Betula nigra |
| Common Name: | river birch |
| Family Name: | Betulaceae |
| Origin: | Canada - eastern, U.S. - northeast |
| Hardiness Zone: | Zone 4: (-34 to -29 °C) |
| Plant Type: | Tree - deciduous |
| Mature Size: | 15 - 22m x 10 - 15m (height x width) |
| Habit: | Open, Twiggy, Upright |
| Form: | Oval - vertical |
| Texture: | Medium |
| Landscape Uses: | Accent plant, Fall interest, Group or mass planting, Shade tree, Specimen plant, Wetland - bogs, Wildlife food, Winter interest |
| Exposure: | Full sun, Part sun/part shade |
| Soil or Media: | Bog, Well-drained |
| Leaves: | Simple, Alternate, Soft flexible, Pinnate venation, Lustrous, Pubescent, Ovate, Rhomboidal, Double serrate |
| Flowers: | Catkin (ament), Green-yellow, Apr-May |
| Fruit: | Samara, Brown, Jun-Jul |
| Key ID Features: | |
| Bark shaggy, peeling, red-brown; leaves alternate, rhombic-ovate, most blades 5-9cm long x 4-7cm wide, double serrate, most with 7 pairs of veins running parallel off the midrib, petioles 1-1.5cm long; catkins separate female (become cone-like, 3-lobe scales) and male (<8cm, yellow-brown), early spring. Winter ID: exfoliating bark, yellow leaves; lateral buds conical, 3-5mm long glabrous, diverging from twigs, red tinged, wintergreen smell; immature male catkins. | |