Betula pubescens - Downy birch

Downy birch (Betula pubescens) is a deciduous pioneer tree of open woodland and heath across Europe, usually on acid soils, native from Britain east to western Siberia and central Asia. Its sap, young leaves, and catkins are eaten regularly, while its inner bark is ground into flour only as a famine food.¹

Inputs

• Hardiness zone 2¹
• Hardiness zone 3¹
• Hardiness zone 4¹
• Hardiness zone 5¹
• Hardiness zone 6¹
• Hardiness zone 7¹
• Hardiness zone 8¹
• Hardiness zone 9¹
• Full sun¹
• Well drained soil¹
• Moist soil¹
• Wet soil¹

Outputs

• Human food¹
• Emergency food¹
• Medicinal use¹
• Dye¹

Type

• Tree
• Deciduous
• Betula spp. - Birch

Functions

• Wildlife habitat¹
• Soil stabilization¹

Footnotes

1. Betula pubescens | Plants for a Future ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹