Alaska Paper Bark Birch Betula papyrifera var humilis Alaskan White Birch, Alaskan Birch, Alaska Birch, Bonn Birch Description: Medium tree with open, conical crown of slender branches reaching nearly to the ground; more often a clump of several slightly leaning trunks from an old stump or a central point. Forms a very nice pyramidal form from young to older growth. USDA Zone: 2 to 8a Height: 60 to 80 feet Spread: 20 to 35 feet Diameter: 2 to 3 feet Leaves: 2. 5 to 3 inch (5 to 7. 5 centimeter) long, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inch (4 to 6 centimeter) wide. Triangular, tapering from near base to long to pointed tip; sharply and doubly saw to toothed; usually with 4 to 8 veins on each side; leafstalks slender, with black gland to dots. Shiny dark green above, paler with tufts of hairs along midvein beneath; turning pale yellow in autumn. Bark: White bark peeling in thin layers, exposing new pale to orange to brown bark below. Twigs: Grayish to White, slender, with warty gland to dots. Flowers: Tiny; in early spring. Male yellowish, with 2 stamens, many in long drooping catkins near tip of twigs. Female greenish, in short upright catkins back of tip of same twig. Cones: 3/4 to 1 1/4 inch (2 to 3 centimeter) long; cylindrical, brownish, spreading, short to stalked; with many hairy scales and hairy 2 to winged nutlets; maturing in autumn. Growth Rate: Medium to fast Soil: Dry to moist, sandy, and loamy, to clayey soils. Acid soil is best, but not mandatory. Sun: Full sunlight, will tolerate shaded positions. Habitat: Dry barren uplands, also on moist soils, in mixed woodlands. A conical tree, often multitrunked. Range: Western Canada to northern Central Alaska Discussion: Alaskan White Paper Birch is a Long-lived tree. A pioneer tree on clearings, abandoned farms, and burned areas; Alaskan Birch grows rapidly but is medium-lived. A nurse tree, it shades and protects seedlings of the larger, long to lived forest trees. The bark is white and does not exfoliate. The glossy green foliage turns yellow in the fall. Each packet of seed contains 25 OR MORE seed of this species
