View source for Betula nigra

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Betula nigra
|accepted_authority=Linnaeus
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=Sp. Pl.
|place=2: 982. 1753
|year=1753
}}
|common_names=River birch;red birch
|special_status={{Treatment/ID/Special_status
|code=W1
|label=
}}{{Treatment/ID/Special_status
|code=E
|label=Endemic
}}{{Treatment/ID/Special_status
|code=F
|label=Illustrated
}}
|basionyms=
|synonyms={{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Betula rubra
|authority=F. Michaux
|rank=species
}}
|hierarchy=Betulaceae;Betulaceae subfam. Betuloideae;Betula;Betula nigra
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Betulaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>subfamily</small>[[Betulaceae subfam. Betuloideae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Betula]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>species</small>[[Betula nigra]]</div></div>
|volume=Volume 3
|mention_page=
|treatment_page=
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Trees,</b> to 25 m; trunks often several, crowns round. <b>Bark</b> of mature trunks and branches grayish brown, yellowish, reddish, or creamy white, smooth, irregularly shredding and exfoliating in shaggy sheets when mature; lenticels dark, horizontally expanded. <b>Twigs</b> without wintergreen taste or odor, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, often with scattered, tiny, resinous glands. <b>Leaf</b> blade rhombic-ovate, with 5–12 pairs of lateral veins, 4–8 × 3–6 cm, base broadly cuneate to truncate, margins coarsely doubly serrate to dentate, apex acuminate; surfaces abaxially moderately pubescent to velutinous, especially along major veins and in vein axils, often with scattered, minute, resinous glands. <b>Infructescences</b> erect, conic or nearly globose, 1.5–3 × 1–2.5 cm, shattering with fruits in late spring or early summer; scales often persistent into early winter, lobes 3, ascending, branching distal to middle, narrow, elongate, equal to somewhat unequal in length, apex acute. <b>Samaras</b> with wings narrower than body, usually broadest near summit, not extended beyond body apically. <b>2n</b> = 28.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|phenology=Flowering late spring.
|habitat=Riverbanks and flood plains, often where land is periodically inundated
|elevation=0–300 m
|distribution=Ala.;Ark.;Conn.;Del.;D.C.;Fla.;Ga.;Ill.;Ind.;Iowa;Kans.;Ky.;La.;Md.;Mass.;Minn.;Miss.;Mo.;N.J.;N.Y.;N.C.;Ohio;Okla.;Pa.;S.C.;Tenn.;Tex.;Vt.;Va.;W.Va.;Wis.
|discussion=<p><i>Betula nigra</i> is a large and characteristic floodplain tree. Like several other species of this habitat (e.g., Acer saccharinum Marshall and <i>Ulmus americana</i> Linnaeus), it releases its fruits in early summer; the seeds germinate immediately (at a time when the surrounding land is unlikely to be flooded). The wood of <i>Betula nigra</i> is not in high demand for timber because of its generally poor quality. Cultivars with freely exfoliating bark are commonly cultivated in the Northeast and Midwest.</p><!--
--><p>Native Americans used <i>Betula nigra</i> medicinally to treat dysentery, colds, and milky urine (D. E. Moerman 1986).</p>
|tables=
|references=
}}<!--

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-->{{#Taxon:
name=Betula nigra
|authority=Linnaeus
|rank=species
|parent rank=genus
|synonyms=Betula rubra
|basionyms=
|family=Betulaceae
|phenology=Flowering late spring.
|habitat=Riverbanks and flood plains, often where land is periodically inundated
|elevation=0–300 m
|distribution=Ala.;Ark.;Conn.;Del.;D.C.;Fla.;Ga.;Ill.;Ind.;Iowa;Kans.;Ky.;La.;Md.;Mass.;Minn.;Miss.;Mo.;N.J.;N.Y.;N.C.;Ohio;Okla.;Pa.;S.C.;Tenn.;Tex.;Vt.;Va.;W.Va.;Wis.
|reference=None
|publication title=Sp. Pl.
|publication year=1753
|special status=W1;Endemic;Illustrated
|source xml=https://bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation/src/2e0870ddd59836b60bcf96646a41e87ea5a5943a/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V3/V3_865.xml
|subfamily=Betulaceae subfam. Betuloideae
|genus=Betula
|species=Betula nigra
}}<!--

-->[[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Betula]]