Downy Birch (Betula pubescens) is an abundant tree throughout northern Europe, northern Asia and also Greenland. In Britain this species is most commonly refered to simply as Birch to distinguish it from Silver Birch (B. pendula). The term Downy Birch, a translation of the latin name, is often used when clarification is required. Many North American texts confuse the two species and often use the term White Birch to refer to either or both. It is also sometimes known as European White Birch or Hairy Birch. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Hepaticophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms) are a major group of land plants. ... Orders see text Dicotyledons or dicots are flowering plants whose seed contains two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. ... Families included in the Kew list: Fagaceae - Beech family   (including Nothofagaceae) Betulaceae - Birch family Corylaceae - Hazel family Ticodendraceae not included in the Kew list: Casuarinaceae - She-oak family Juglandaceae - Walnut family Rhoipteleaceae Myricaceae The Fagales are an order of flowering plants, including some of the best known trees. ... Genera Alnus - Alders Betula - Birches Betulaceae, or the Birch Family, includes two genera of trees and shrubs, the birches and the alders. ... Species Many species; see text and classification Birch is the name of any tree of the genus Betula, in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. ... Subgenus Betulenta - Wintergreen oil birches Bark on twigs rich in methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen). ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth A tree can be defined as a large, perennial, woody plant. ... World map showing Europe (geographically) When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... World map showing location of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia, defined by subtracting Europe from Eurasia. ... World map showing North America (geographically) A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere, bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by...

It is not a large tree, rarely exceeding 15-20 m tall and often less. Downy Birch can be distinguished from the closely related Silver Birch (B. pendula) in having smooth, downy shoots, which are hairless and warty in Silver Birch. The bark of the Downy Birch is a dull greyish brown whereas the Silver Birch has stricking white papery bark with black fissures. It is also distinguished cytologically, Silver Birch being diploid (with two sets of chromosomes), whereas Downy Birch is tetraploid (four sets of chromosomes). The two have differences in habitat requirements, with Silver Birch commoner on wet, poorly drained sites such as clays and peat bogs, and Downy Birch found mainly on dry, sandy soils. Binomial name Betula pendula Roth. ... Cytology (also known as Cell biology) is the scientific study of cells. ... Diploid (meaning double in Greek) cells have two copies (homologs) of each chromosome (both sex- and non-sex determining chromosomes), usually one from the mother and one from the father. ... Polyploid (in Greek: πολλαπλόν - multiple) cells or organisms contain more than one copy (ploidy) of their chromosomes. ...

It extends farther north into the Arctic than any other broadleaf tree. These subarctic populations are usually small and very contorted, and are often distinguished as Arctic Downy Birch, Betula pubescens subsp. tortuosa. This subspecies is notable as being the only tree native to Greenland, where large specimens can reach 5-6 m tall. The red line indicates the 10°C isotherm in July, commonly used to define the Arctic region border The Arctic is the area around the Earths North Pole. ... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ...

See also Birch and Betula classification. Species Many species; see text and classification Birch is the name of any tree of the genus Betula, in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. ... Subgenus Betulenta - Wintergreen oil birches Bark on twigs rich in methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen). ...