Betula pendula 'Youngii' - Young's Weeping Birch

Young's weeping birch is a fun dwarf form of the European Weeping Birch that's more shrub than tree but can still be a great focal point in a landscape. I have seen several that the skirt formed by the branches hits the ground and was used a fort by little kids.

This is a specimen from Bondnat Gardens in Wales. Its just leafing out so you don't get to see the skirt well developed.

Here is one from Capitola, showing off its winter outfit. White twisted bark! Very cool.

The leaves are alternately arranged, 1.5-3" long, ovate to deltoid or rhomboid shaped with serrated margins and the tip can be (but not always) very much acuminate.

Twigs are reddish-brown with lot of whitish glands.

 

Male flowers in a 2-3" long catkin overwintering, usually in 3's. Female emerging in spring, red color and erect on lateral branches. These are the male catkins, the image below is the catkins open.

If you are lucky you might come across a 'Trost's Dwarf'. Very finely dissected leaves.

Misidentification:
Only if you are only handed a branch.

Location:
Aptos
1743 Calypso Dr, While you are there you can see a weeping Blue Atlas Cedar and a Harry Lauders Walking stick.

205 Toledo Dr. interesting driveway.

Betula jacquemontii - Himalayan Birch

The Himalayan Birch trees are medium sized (30-40'), deciduous, pyramidal to oval shaped trees with upright branching. The fall color is not great, especially around here. The real beauty is the bark, which is more easily seen in winter but summer it still looks great. 

This tree is often the center of many cold climate winter gardens. We don't have winter but they are still really nice looking trees. 

Foliage is alternate, simple, ovate, 2-3" long, dark green above and supposedly glandular below, but usually not in my experience. Margins are singlely or double-serrated. Look for 7-9 pairs of veins with tufts of hairs in the viens. The glands are usually on B. utilis which this plant is often included in as a botanical variety, B. utilis jacquemontii.

Stems are light brown, slightly hairy and slightly glandular. The buds are lighter brown than B. papyrifera and seem to be more appressed against the stems.

Bark, well, that why we plant them. Almost pure white. Notable horizontal bands of lenticels. The new bark shows a beautiful pinkish color.

Flowers are borne in catkins in separate male and female inflorescences. Males over winter exposed to the elements.

Here are 2 male catkins elongating.

These are fertilized females.

Its really about the bark. These are great specimens planted in Gilroy at Headstart Nursery.

Misidentification: Other birch trees, Especially B. papryfera. Betula pendula bark turns black at the base much sooner and the leaves are very different.

Location:
Aptos
212 Augusta Lane has 7-9 trees along the street that look very nice.

Capitola
725 Gilroy

Live Oak
640 Cambria Ln.

Santa Cruz
Along Pacific in the medium in front of the Catalyst.

Betula papyrifera - Paperbark Birch

The paperbark birch (also known as the canoe birch) is a medium to large (50-70') deciduous tree native to the Pacific Northwest and all across Canada to the east coast.  Pyramidal when young developing into a more rounded habit. You can see from the picture the trees do not weep like the European Weeping Birch. Often planted as a multi-stemmed specimen. "Clump Birch" is a name for any birch species sold with 3 main stems. 

Trunks stay white pretty long.

The deciduous leaves are ovate, 2-4" with a narrow tip. Margins usually doubly-serrated. Look for the presence of tufts of hairs in the axils of the veins on the lower surface to help distinguish between this and European White birch. Look for 4-5 vein pairs to help distinguish this from B. jacquemontii.

Lower surface showing the hairs.

One of the 3 trees mentioned below has very nicely doubly serrated margins, almost looking cut leaf like. Might be a nice one to graft. You can see the one on the left has nicer margins.

Twigs are red-brown and slightly glandular. Buds are usually brown and green striped.

If you look at an older stem, still young but older, you will see what looks like 2 leaves coming off of each node. They are really coming from the bud and develop like small spurs.

One of the best of the many white barked birches. Lots of lenticels as well. Peeling bark reveals a yellowish pink new layer of bark. All branch ridges and scars develop black areas making for a great contrast.

Male flowers in a 2-3" long catkin overwintering. Female emerging in spring, red color and erect on branches.

Fruit is a small winged nut, developing from a catkin. This is the female ready to start releasing seeds. 

Here are the fruit and some bracts.

Fall color is the best. Really, of all the birch trees I have seen this one puts on the best yellow color.

All birch trees need ample water. They used to thrive in our heavily irrigated lawns but we don't do lawns anymore, do we? Anyway, the thrive best in cool climates, but you will see them everywhere.


Misidentification:
Betula jacquemontii around here. Look at the buds. Differs in habit from the European Weeping birch as the lateral branches are only lightly pendulous.

Location:
Aptos
McGregor Dr. at Perch Way. They are planted on one side of the driveway with Betula pendula on the other. Intentional? Maybe, but a great spot to look at them side by side.

Santa Cruz
Front St all along the side of the street with SC Book Shop.

Betula pendula 'Purpurea' - Purple Birch

Betula pendula 'Purpurea' is a pretty rare tree around here. From what I have seen they don't do that well here or other places I have seen them.  Growth rate is slower than the green species, and I don't think they really weep well like an older European Weeping Birch. Small purple leaves are tough to see. 

As you cans see, the leaves are the same shape as the species, they are just purple. 

Misidentification: Not sure,

Location:

Aptos (Seacliff) 630 Middlefield Dr.

Soquel 

3036 Center St