Birch family, Betulaceae
Origin: the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor; it also grows wild in other places
Habitat in the original area: shrubs and forests, it gets wild and grows around human settlements
Habitus: A spherical shrub or smaller multi-stemmed tree with grey bark, it grows to the height of 3–10 metres.
Leaf: Petiolate, and on the underside pubescent leaves grow alternately on the branches. They have an ovate, sometimes shallowly lobed and up to 14 centimetres long blade, which is cordate at the base and pointed at the top. The edges are double-serrate.
Bloom, fruit: It blooms from February to April. The small male blossoms are brown and form up to 10 centimetres long catkins. The inconspicuous female blossoms are arranged in pairs in a panicle. The fruits are nuts growing either singly or in a bundle of 3–6. Their bract sheath, called the “stocking”, is tubular and twice as long as the nut itself and it is covered with trichomes.
Interesting fact: It is often grown in the ‘Purpurea’ cultivar, which has reddish or brownish leaves.
