Betula michauxii
bouleau de Michaux, Michaux's birch, Newfoundland dwarf birch
dark brown, smooth, close;
lenticels pale, inconspicuous, circular.
without taste and odor of wintergreen, moderately to densely pubescent, not conspicuously resin-coated, without large, warty, resinous glands.
blade obovate–reniform, with 2–3 pairs of lateral veins, 0.5–1 × 0.5–1.2 cm, base cuneate, margins deeply crenate-dentate, apex broadly rounded to nearly truncate;
surfaces abaxially usually glabrous.
erect, short-cylindric, 0.5–1 × 0.5–0.8 cm, shattering with fruits in fall;
scales unlobed (lateral lobes sometimes present but greatly reduced), glabrous.
with wings not apparent or reduced to narrow ridges.
Betula michauxii
This infrequent dwarf birch is distinguished from Betula nana mostly on the basis of its reduced infructescence scales and wetter habitat (J. J. Furlow 1984), characteristics that are also occasionally noted in B. nana. It perhaps might better be treated as a race of that species; in the absence of thorough study of this complex, however, it seems best to follow the traditional treatment (M. L. Fernald 1950c; J. Rousseau and M. Raymond 1950).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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