Betula pumilaL.

bog birch

WFO wfo-0000336350 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Betula pumila, photographed by Mary Krieger
fig. a Mary Krieger, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-07-31 / obs. 152181255
Betula pumila, photographed by Reuven Martin
fig. b Reuven Martin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 136626545
Betula pumila, photographed by Bonnie Semmling
fig. c Bonnie Semmling, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 135410763
Betula pumila, photographed by Jacob Friend
fig. d Jacob Friend, CC0 1.0 / obs. 133027859
Betula pumila, photographed by Jacob Read
fig. e Jacob Read, CC0 1.0 / obs. 94143790
Betula pumila, photographed by aarongunnar
fig. f aarongunnar, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 74685993
Betula pumila, photographed by Reuven Martin
fig. g Reuven Martin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 52744140
Betula pumila, photographed by Ryan Hodnett
fig. h Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 59211525

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 40 botanical countries

Regions where Betula pumila is native: Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Brunswick, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon AlaskaAlbertaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasLabradorMaineManitobaMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMontanaNebraskaNew BrunswickNew JerseyNew YorkNewfoundlandNorth DakotaNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaNunavutOhioOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSaskatchewanSouth DakotaVermontWashingtonWisconsinWyomingYukon
Native distribution of Betula pumila, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Labrador LAB
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
New Brunswick NBR
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
North Dakota NDA
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Nunavut NUN
Ohio OHI
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Vermont VER
Washington WAS
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Yukon YUK

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,771 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -21.2 °C -13.2 °C -6.6 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 18.2 °C 24.8 °C 27.8 °C
Annual rainfall 501 mm 884 mm 1,264 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 54 mm 134 mm 261 mm

It is found where winters are severely cold. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,771 research-grade observations of Betula pumila that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 30 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Betula glandulifera (Regel) E.J.Butler
  • Betula glandulosa var. glandulifera (Regel) Gleason
  • Betula glandulosa var. hallii (Howell) C.L.Hitchc.
  • Betula grayi Regel
  • Betula hallii Howell
  • Betula nana var. glandulifera (Regel) B.Boivin
  • Betula nana var. renifolia (Fernald) B.Boivin
  • Betula neoborealis Lepage
  • Betula obovata E.J.Butler
  • Betula pubescens var. borealis (Spach) Á.Löve & D.Löve
  • Betula pulchella Dippel
  • Betula pumila f. glabrescens H.J.P.Winkl.
  • Betula pumila f. glabrescens (Regel) Regel
  • Betula pumila f. glandulifera (Regel) H.J.P.Winkl.
  • Betula pumila f. hallii (Howell) Brayshaw
  • Betula pumila f. latipes (H.J.P.Winkl.) Lepage
  • Betula pumila f. pubescens H.J.P.Winkl.
  • Betula pumila f. subcycla Lepage
  • Betula pumila subsp. glandulifera (Regel) Á.Löve & D.Löve
  • Betula pumila var. fastigiata Rehder
  • Betula pumila var. glabra Regel
  • Betula pumila var. glabrescens Regel
  • Betula pumila var. glandulifera Regel
  • Betula pumila var. latipes H.J.P.Winkl.

and 6 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.