Betula middendorffii
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 middendorffii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Other taxa in genus
- Betula alleghaniensis
- 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 grossa
- Betula gynoterminalis
- Betula humilis
- Betula kweichowensis
- Betula lenta
- Betula luminifera
- Betula lutea
- Betula maximowicziana
- Betula medwediewii
- Betula megrelica
- Betula michauxii
- Betula microphylla
- Betula nana
- Betula nigra
- Betula occidentalis
- Betula ovalifolia
- Betula papyrifera
- Betula pendula
- Betula populifolia
- Betula potaninii
- Betula pubescens
- 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
Shrub to 2 m tall; bark red-brown; branches dark red-brown, glabrous becoming glaucous; branchlets densely pubescent and resinous glandular. Petiole c. 3 mm, densely pubescent; leaves broadly obovate, 1.5–2.7 × 1.2–2.1 cm, light green, glabrous and sparsely resinous punctate below, dark green and shiny above, base broadly cuneate or rounded-cuneate, margin irregularly double-toothed, apex obtuse or subrounded; secondary veins 3–5 either side of the midvein. Female catkin spreading or pendulous, oblong, 1.2–1.5 cm × 8–9 mm; peduncle 8–10 mm, slender, densely pubescent and resinous glandular, bracts c. 6 mm, ciliate, 3-lobed, middle lobe ovate, lateral lobes erect, obovate, ± as long as middle lobe. Nutlet c. 2 × 1.5 mm, glabrous, translucent wings slightly wider than nutlet. Flowering Jun–Jul, fruiting Aug–Sep (China). (Li & Skvortsov 1999).
Distribution China Heilongjiang (Daxinganling), Nei Mongol Russia eastern Siberia
Habitat Thickets at 1000–1200 m asl.
Betula middendorffii is a tetraploid dwarf birch found in eastern Asia. It was treated by McAllister and Ashburner (2013) as a synonym of B. fruticosa (which was assumed to be tetraploid), but recent molecular data have found B. fruticosa to be diploid (Dun et al. 2024). The present treatment follows that of Li & Skvortsov (1999) in Flora of China, who treated the two species as distinct. Betula middendorffii is separated from B. fruticosa by its shiny red‒brown (not greyish white) bark and the significantly wider width of the seed wing (Dun et al. 2024). Dun et al. recovered B. middendorffii as sister to B. nana.