Silver Birch: The Silver Birch is a tall, slender elegant tree and can reach a height of approx 35m. It is easily recognised by its distinctive bark, which is a beautiful silvery white colour with broken dark rectangular plates at the base of the trunk. The branches are pendulous towards the tips. Young twigs are warty with pale resin glands.
The leaves are oval shaped to triangular with a base that is slightly heart shaped or cut straight across with unevenly doubly toothed margins. Leaves usually measure approx 25-50mm.
Flowers appear April-May. Male catkins are yellowy -green and are approx 30-60mm in length.
Female flowers are made up of scales with down curved lobes with female flowers on. These are approx 15-35mm in size.
The Silver Birch is a short lived pioneer species, which means that it conditions the ground for other tree species and should be one of the first trees planted in any woodland.
The Silver Birch prefers a light sandy soil and full or partial sunlight.

Downey Birch: This is smaller than the silver birch and quite often grown as a shrub. The downy birch can reach a height of approx 25m in the right growing conditions.
It differs from the Silver Birch, as the bark is brown or grey and smooth and the branches spreading. Young twigs are covered with downy white hairs, hence the name.
The leaves are oval and have a rounded or triangular base with regular coarsely toothed margins. They can measure up to 55mm.
Flowers appear April-May with yellowy-green male catkins measuring 30-60mm. Females are composed of scales with spreading or upswept lateral lobes and female flowers. These are approx 10-40mm in size.
Again this is a relatively short-lived pioneer species.
The Downy Birch prefers a wet soil and is very tolerant of cold weather conditions - it is often grown as a shrub in arctic regions.