BETULA 
83 
suckers, densely pubescent. Winter buds ovate, broader than in B. alba. Petioles relatively 
shorter than in B. alba. Laminae ovate to rhomboid-ovate, usually truncate to subcordate at 
the base, coarsely and often irregularly serrate, serrations less acute than in B. alba, acute to 
subacuminate, more or less hairy when young, often glabrous or subglabrous at maturity, with 
raised veins on the lower surface. Catkins late April and early May, a little later than in B. 
alba. Staminate catkins about 3 ’0—4 '5 cm. long and 5 — 7 mm. broad. Bracts with peltate heads 
dark brown in colour, greenish near the margin, ciliate. Pistillate catkins about 1 ‘3 — 4*0 cm. 
long and o'5 — I’o broad when in flower, usually narrower than in B. alba. Stigmas ? purplish. 
Fruiting bracts ciliate, central lobe very prominent, obtuse ; lateral lobes patent to suberect or 
even erect, usually shorter than the central lobe, usually less spreading than in B. alba ; August 
and September. Wing of fruit as broad as or a little broader than the achene. 
(a) B. pubescens var. vestita Grenier et Godron Ft. France iii, 148 (1855); B. pubescens Wallroth Sched. 
Crit. 499 (1822); B. glutinosa var. pubescens Babington Man. 282 (1843); B. alba subsp. glutinosa var. pubescens 
Syme Eng. Bot. viii, 187 (1868); B. odorata [Bechstein ex] Kindberg Bot. Notiser 116 (1909). 
leones: — Hartig Forst. Cidturpfl. t. 27, as B. alba\ t. 28, as B. pubescens. 
Camb. Brit. Ft. ii. Plate 85. Plate 86, a — e. 
Exsiccata : — Reichenbach, 1635, as B. ambigua ; v. Heurck, i, 3, as B. pubescens. 
Bark resembling that of B. alba, but less black and corky at the base of the trunk. Young 
branches usually hairy, scarcely verrucose. Laminae subrotund to cuneate-rotund at the base, 
usually pubescent ; of the suckers, cordate. Lateral lobes of the fruiting scales rather shorter than 
in B. alba, somewhat arched. Achene relatively broader than in B. alba. 
This variety is common in the lowlands of England. 
( b ) B. pubescens var. glabrata Wahlenberg Ft. Carpat. 306(1814); B. carpatica [Waldstein et Kitaibel ex] 
Willdenow 1 Sp. Pl. iv, 464 (1805); B. glutinosa Wallroth Sched. Crit. 497 (1822); Fries V eg. Scand. 212 (1846)!; 
B. pubescens var. carpatica Koch Syn. 662 (1837); Winkler in Pflanzenr. iv, pt. 61, 81 (1904); Rouy FI. France 
xii, 255 (1910); B. rhombifolia Tausch in Flora xxi, 752 (1838); B. carpatica var. hercynica Reichenbach Icon. 
xii, 2 (1850); B. pubescens var. denudata Grenier et Godron FI. France iii, 147 (1855); B. alba lusus carpatica Regel 
Monogr. Betul. 21 (1861); B. alba subsp. glutinosa var. denudata Syme Eng. Bot. viii, 186 (1868); B. alba subsp. 
pubescens var. carpatica Regel in DC. Prodr. xvi, pt. ii, 168 (1868) partim ; B. odorata subsp. rhombifolia Lange 
Haandb. Danske FI. 241 (1886 — 8); B. pubescens race carpatica Ascherson und Graebner Syn. iv, 401 (1911). 
leones : — Reichenbach Icon, xii, t. 624, fig. 1286, as B. carpatica var. hercynica', FI. Dan. t. 1467, as B. alba ; 
t. 2851, as B. odorata var. rhombifolia’, Hartig Forst. Culturpfl. t. 29, as B. pubescens var. carpatica. 
Camb. Brit. FI. ii. Plate 86. (f) Fruiting bracts (one enlarged), (g) Achenes (one enlarged). 
Exsiccata: — Billot, 521 bis, as B. pubescens', Fries, ii, 54, as B. glutinosa ; van Heurck et Martinis, v, 232, 
as B. verrucosa', Reichenbach, 1321, as B. carpatica ; 1635 (? partim), as B. ambigua\ Herb. Ft. Ingric. x, 583, as 
B. glutinosa ; Tausch, as B. carpatica. 
Tree, growing as tall as var. vestita in favourable situations but remaining shrubby in ex- 
posed localities. Bark brown, shining. Young branches much darker than in var. vestita, pubescent 
or glabrous at maturity, with small verrucosities. Laminae rhomboidal or subrhomboidal or subovate, 
more or less cuneate at the base, simply or doubly toothed, serrations not acuminate, often glabrous 
or only hairy below in the axils of the chief veins at maturity, usually rather larger than in var. 
vestita and darker green. Pistillate catkins stouter than in var. vestita. Lateral lobes of the bracts 
usually less spreading and shorter than in var. vestita. Achene as in var. vestita. 
Throughout the British Isles, northwards at least to Sutherlandshire (Professor J. W. H. Traill, in Ann. 
Scot. Nat. Hist. 180 (1906)), but commoner among the hills of the west and north of Great Britain than in the 
lowlands of the south and east ; on lowland peat-moors in the north of England ; common on the Pennines. 
Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany, France, central Europe, Russia, and doubtless elsewhere. 
(c) B. pubescens var. alpigena Blytt Norg. Ft. 402 (1861); B. davurica Ledebour Ft. Alt. iv, 245 
(1833) non Pallas; B. tortuosa Ledebour FI. Ross, iii, 652 (1849); E- a iba subsp. tortuosa var. genuina Regel in 
DC. Prodr. xvi, pt. ii, 169 (1868); B. pubescens var. tortuosa Koehne Deutsche Dendrol. 109 (1893); B. pubescens 
race tortuosa Ascherson und Graebner Syn. iv, 402 (1911). 
leones: — FI. Dan. t. 2918, as B. odorata var. tortuosa ; Syme Eng. .Bot. viii, t. 1296, excluding the lower 
branch and single leaf, as B. glutinosa. 
1 The name B. carpatica does not appear in the work (Waldstein et Kitaibel PI. Rar. Hung.) cited by Willdenow, which 
was published at a later date than Willdenow’s Species Plantarum. Cf. Atriplex microsperma. 
I I — 2 
