Betula alnoides

{{Short description|Species of birch}}

{{Speciesbox

|image = Betula alnoides Bra56.png

|image_caption =

|genus = Betula

|parent = Betula subg. Betulaster

|species = alnoides

|status = LC

|status_system = IUCN3.1

|status_ref = {{Cite journal |last=Shaw, K., Roy, S. & Wilson |date=2014 |title=Betula alnoides. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014 |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T194256A2306879.en |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=IUCN Red List|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T194256A2306879.en |doi-access=free }}

|authority = Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don

|synonyms = Betula acuminata Wall.{{cite web |title=Betula acuminata Wall. — The Plant List |url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-21068 |website=www.theplantlist.org |accessdate=25 April 2019}}

}}

Betula alnoides ({{zh|c=西桦|p=xi hua|lang-zh=西桦}}; {{langx|th|กำลังเสือโคร่ง}}, {{RTGS|kamlang suea khrong}}, literally: "tiger power") is a species of birch that is native to countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam, at elevations of {{cvt|300|-|2100|m|-3}} and higher in some cases (up to {{cvt|2700|m|-3}}).{{cite journal|url= http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200006135|title=Betula alnoides|publisher=Flora of China|volume=4|page=306}}[http://temperate.theferns.info/plant/Betula+alnoides Betula alnoides. Useful Temperate Plants. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2018-06-25. ][http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/566415 Trees of Laos and Vietnam: a Field Guide to 100 Economically or Ecologically Important Species.] Hoang Van Sam, Khamseng Nanthav Ong & P.J.A. Kessler. BLUMEA — Vol. 49, No. 2 & 3, 2004, p. 201–349[http://herba.msu.ru/russian/journals/bmsn/117/117_5.pdf Forest Vegetation of Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia.] A.N. Kuznetsov, S.P. Kuznetsova. BULLETIN OF MOSCOW SOCIETY OF NATURALISTS. BIOLOGICAL SERIES. 2012. Vol. 117, part 5, 2012 September – October, p. 39—50 (in Russian){{cite web|url= http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Betula+alnoides|title=Betula alnoides|publisher=PFAF|accessdate=December 3, 2013}} It is the southernmost of all known species of the genus Birch, whose natural range reaches approximately 12° N in Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia.

Description

The plant is {{convert|30|m}} tall with white coloured branches. It has {{convert|1.5|-|3|cm}} long petioles and has a {{convert| 2.5|-|5.5|cm}} long leaf blade that is lanceolate, ovate, papery, and even elliptic. The female inflorescences is a pendulous and cylindric raceme, that, by time it matures, reaches a diameter of {{convert|5|-|10|cm}} by {{convert|4|-|6|mm}}. The peduncle is {{convert|2|-|3|mm}} long while the diameter of the bracts is only {{convert|3|mm}}. The seeds are ripe from March to May and are {{convert|1.5|-|2|mm}} long while the flowers bloom from October to January.

Uses

Betula alnoides inner bark is edible and is used for making cakes and bread. It is also considered to be an antidote against snakebites and is used to treat dislocated bones.

File:Betula alnoides-2-sims park-coonoor-ooty-India.jpg (cultivated).]]

References

{{commons category}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q4085314}}

alnoides

Category:Trees of Bhutan

Category:Trees of China

Category:Trees of Indo-China

Category:Trees of Nepal

{{Fagales-stub}}