Betula × aurata
Credits
Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton
Recommended citation
'Betula × aurata' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Genus
Synonyms
- B. × hybrida Blom
- B. × obscura Kotula
Other taxa in genus
- Betula albosinensis
- Betula alleghaniensis
- Betula bomiensis
- Betula × caerulea
- Betula chichibuensis
- Betula chinensis
- Betula coerulea-grandis
- Betula cordifolia
- Betula corylifolia
- Betula cylindrostachya
- Betula davurica
- Betula delavayi
- Betula ermanii
- Betula forrestii
- Betula glandulosa
- Betula globispica
- Betula grossa
- Betula humilis
- Betula insignis
- Betula jacquemontii
- Betula lenta
- Betula luminifera
- Betula lutea
- Betula mandshurica
- Betula maximowicziana
- Betula medwediewii
- Betula nana
- Betula neoalaskana
- Betula nigra
- Betula occidentalis
- Betula papyrifera
- Betula pendula
- Betula platyphylla
- Betula populifolia
- Betula potaninii
- Betula pubescens
- Betula pumila
- Betula raddeana
- Betula schmidtii
- Betula szechuanica
- Betula tianschanica
- Betula × utahensis
- Betula utilis
This taxon is the hybrid progeny of two European native birches, B. pendula Roth. and B. pubescens Ehrh. However, it often occurs in the absence of one or both parent species, a testament to the capacity for dispersal of birch seeds and pollen. Betula ×aurata is intermediate between the parent species in its morphology, but identifying the hybrid can be challenging. It can be sterile or fully fertile, and can therefore form hybrid swarms through backcrossing with the parent species – especially the tetraploid B. pubescens (the diploid B. pendula can often be identified as remaining ‘pure’ in hybrid swarms) – producing a confusing range of morphologies. Because of these difficulties with identification, the distribution of the hybrid is uncertain. Stace 1997. Distribution UNITED KINGDOM. Habitat Disturbed areas and secondary vegetation. USDA Hardiness Zone 3. Conservation status Not evaluated. Cross-reference K222.