Korean birch
Betula costata · Betulaceae · 거제수나무
Look
- Leaves
- Egg-shaped elliptic to long egg-shaped, 5-8 cm long, narrowing to a long point, with double-toothed margins and 10-16 pairs of side veins. The leaf stalk is 8-15 mm.
- Flowers
- Blooms in May-June; male catkins hang down, and female catkins are long elliptic, 1.8-2 cm long.
- Fruit
- The fruiting spike is egg-shaped, about 2 cm long, on a short stalk. The wings of the nutlets are narrower than the nutlet and it ripens in September.
- Bark
- White or brownish white, peeling like sheets of paper.
Where it grows
- In Korea
- Native
- Native to
- Northeastern China; in Korea it grows along the Baekdudaegan down to Jirisan in Jeollanam-do, native at 600-2,100 m elevation in the central region and north.
- Ecology
- Grows in groups on dry, poor ground; in its Taebaeksan habitat it grows along valleys. It grows on Taebaeksan, Jirisan, Seoraksan and in the central region and north, but not in large numbers.