Erman's Birch

The wood is hard and dense, and is used for construction and making furniture.

Trees to 20 m tall; bark grayish white, exfoliating in thin sheets. Branches red-brown, glabrous; branchlets brown-green, densely villous, resinous glandular; bud scales densely silky villous. Petiole 1-2.4 cm; leaf blade ovate, broadly ovate, or triangular-ovate, 2-7 × 1.2-5 cm, abaxially resinous punctate and villous, adaxially sparsely villous, base subrounded, truncate, broadly cuneate, or subcordate, margin irregularly and doubly mucronate serrate, apex acute, acuminate, or caudate-acuminate; lateral veins 8-12 on each side of midvein. Female inflorescence ovoid or oblong, 1.5-2.7 × 0.8-1.5 cm; peduncle 3-6 mm or obscure; bracts 5-8 mm, 3-lobed, lobes oblanceolate, lateral lobes spreading or erect, slightly shorter than middle lobe. Nutlet obovate or ovate-elliptic, 2.5-3 × 1.8-2 mm, with membranous wings ca. 1/2 as wide as nutlet. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Jul-Aug. 2n = 56.

Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol [Japan, N Korea, Russia (Kamchatka)]

Forming pure forest stands, but also in mixed forests of coniferous and broad-leaved trees; 1000-1700 m.