Betula grossa
Sponsor
Kindly sponsored by the Banks family in memory of Lawrence Banks CBE DL VMH
Credits
Hugh A. McAllister, Kenneth Ashburner, Paul Bartlett & Martin Deasy (2026)
Recommended citation
McAllister, H. A., Ashburner, K., Bartlett, P. & Deasy M. (2026), 'Betula grossa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Common Names
- Japanese Cherry Birch
Synonyms
- Betula ulmifolia Siebold & Zucc.
- Betula sollennis Koidz.
- Betula pseudolenta V.N.Vassil.
- Betula lenta var. carpinifolia Regel
- Betula ermanii var. subcordata (Regel) Koidz.
- Betula carpinifolia Siebold & Zucc.
- Betula bhojpattra var. subcordata Regel
- Betula alba var. communis Shirai
- Betula lenta var. grossa (Siebold & Zucc.) Regel
Other taxa in genus
- Betula alleghaniensis
- Betula alnoides
- Betula alnoides
- Betula ashburneri
- Betula bomiensis
- Betula × caerulea
- Betula calcicola
- Betula celtiberica
- Betula chichibuensis
- Betula chinensis
- Betula cordifolia
- Betula corylifolia
- Betula costata
- Betula cylindrostachya
- Betula davurica
- Betula delavayi
- Betula ermanii
- Betula fargesii
- Betula fruticosa
- Betula glandulosa
- Betula globispica
- Betula gmelinii
- Betula gynoterminalis
- Betula humilis
- Betula kweichowensis
- Betula lenta
- Betula luminifera
- Betula maximowicziana
- Betula medwediewii
- Betula megrelica
- Betula michauxii
- Betula microphylla
- Betula middendorffii
- Betula murrayana
- Betula nana
- Betula nigra
- Betula occidentalis
- Betula ovalifolia
- Betula papyrifera
- Betula pendula
- Betula populifolia
- Betula potaninii
- Betula pumila
- Betula raddeana
- Betula schmidtii
- Betula skvortsovii
- Betula tianschanica
- Betula utilis
- Betula utilis subsp. albosinensis
- Betula utilis subsp. jacquemontii
- Betula utilis subsp. occidentalis
- Betula utilis subsp. utilis
Editorial Note
This TSO article is an edited digest of the species account in Kenneth Ashburner and Hugh McAllister, The Genus Betula: A Taxonomic Revision of Birches (2013; repr. 2016).
Trees and Shrubs Online, 23 June 2026
Tree with dark grey smooth bark, eventually very large, to 25 m. Young shoots yellowgreen, very silky hairy on youngest internode, without short puberulent hairs, with small brown glands; lenticels pale brown and slightly raised, small, linear-ovate, less than 0.5 mm. Twigs light brown, with persistent more or less patent setose hairs present on most first year twigs through winter. Buds large, on strongest, vigorous twigs to 10 × 5.0 mm, ovoid and acute but not acuminate, projecting outwards from twig as much as c. 45°, scales shining chestnut-brown. Petioles hairy, 1–2.5 cm, to 2 mm broad at base, with a few glands. Leaves broadly ovate, blades 5 × 3 to 10 × 6 cm, cordate at base, sometimes deeply so with sinus as much as 10 mm deep, with 8–14 pairs lateral veins; leaf margins with 4 or even 5 acute teeth between major teeth; leaves on fruiting spur shoots smaller, distinctly cordate, the blade as little as 3.6 × 2 cm, petiole:blade ratio 1:3.5 to 1:5. Male catkins rather short, to 20 × 5 mm, scales pale brown and shiny with darker brown fringes, sometimes thickly encrusted with white resin, and occasionally more or less knobbly with raised bosses on scales, as many as 2 axillary below the 2 terminal. Fruiting catkins erect, almost sessile, ovate to oblong, to 25 × 15 mm, scales ciliate, to 7.5 × 6.5 mm, laterals more than half the length of mid-lobe. Seed to 4 × 3.5 mm with nut c. 2 mm broad. Hexaploid: 2n=84.
Distribution Japan Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu.
Habitat Mountain forests with other trees, not forming pure forest.
Native to the three southern islands of Japan, Betula grossa is a very handsome, hornbeam-like, large tree. Its range extends from north Honshu southwards to Shikoku and Kyushu, reaching higher elevations in the south – E. H. Wilson (quoted in Sargent 1916) reported it to be common in mixed woods in Shinano province in central Honshu; it does not occur in Hokkaido or mainland Asia. It is described as a mountain tree by Ohwi (1965), and is an early colonising species following disturbance in forests dominated by beech (Fagus crenata) – a role comparable to that played by Betula lenta in eastern North America (Nakashizuka 1989; Yamamoto, Sakata & Terazawa 1995). The species was described by Siebold and Zuccarini in 1846 from specimens collected by Siebold; two similar species, B. carpinifolia and B. ulmifolia described simultaneously have generally been considered to be synonymous with B. grossa.
With its conspicuously hairy leaves and young stems, and small upright fruiting catkins, Betula grossa is only likely to be confused with B. alleghaniensis of eastern North America. The most obvious difference is that the leaf bases of B. grossa are usually cordate, while those of B. alleghaniensis are usually truncate. In some (all?) specimens a more precise difference can also often be seen with a hand lens: in addition to the long (1–2 mm) silky hairs lying more-or-less parallel with the leaf in both species, B. alleghaniensis also has fine (< 0.3 mm) velvety puberulent hairs that stand out at right angles to the surface of the veins beneath the silky hairs. The leaves of Betula grossa are also less double-toothed more persistently hairy on their upper surface. The bark is very similar to that of B. lenta with its hint of flaking, and in the absence of the metallic brilliance seen in B. alleghaniensis. In terms of general impression, Betula grossa has a certain thick-twigged sturdiness not seen in B. lenta.
Bean (1976) reported the date of introduction to Kew as 1896, but the widespread use of the name Betula ulmifolia for the species now accepted as B. costata makes it difficult to ascertain the extent of its (possibly earlier) cultivation in Europe. There have been many introductions to cultivation from Shinano Province, and from Lake Chuzenji and Nikko in Shimotsuke Province.
When fully grown, Betula grossa is likely to be too large for most gardens, but young trees grow relatively slowly, forming neat small spreading trees to about 8 m in thirty years. Bean (1976) noted ‘a certain liability to injury by late spring frost’, but as long as the situation is not too exposed or the soil too dry, the tree will give a reliable display of autumn colour every year, and will thrive in any good, rich and well-drained soil.
