Search Fact Sheets Virginia Tech Dendrology

Himalayan white birch Betulaceae Betula utilis D. Don Listen to the Latin Print a QR link to this factsheet symbol:
Leaf: Alternate, simple, pinnately–veined, ovate, 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches long, singly serrated to faintly doubly serrated, rounded to obtuse leaf base, dark green above and paler below.
Flower: Species is monoecious; 2 to 3, red brown, 1 to 1 1/2 inch long, preformed male catkins at the ends of twigs; females are upright, reddish green, 1 inch long; appear or elongate (males) in mid-spring.
Fruit: Cone like, cylindrical, 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, initially green but brown and deciduous when mature, breaking up to release small 2-winged nutlets; mature in autumn and disperse through winter.
Twig: Slender, red brown, light lenticels, may have a fine grey fuzz; buds are slender, pointed and red brown, false end bud.
Bark: Red brown with numerous horizontal lenticels when young; heavily peeling to a striking, creamy white (slight reddish) when mature.
Form: A small to medium sized tree up to 60 feet tall, pyramidal crown.
 Looks like: European weeping birch - paper birch - gray birch

Himalayan white birch leaf image
Himalayan white birch flower image
Himalayan white birch fruit image
Himalayan white birch twig image
Himalayan white birch bark image
Himalayan white birch form image
Himalayan white birch map image

Additional Range Information: Betula utilis is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links:
All material 2025 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information