Whitespire Birch is very adaptable … This plant has many benefits including ease of transplant, that it casts light shade, and tolerates heat, wind, deer, and drought. Ovate nuts, 1.2-2.2 mm long, puberulous, wings 1.5-2 times wider, ripen fall-spring. Description: Attractive gray-white bark with black markings, doesn't exfoliate; glossy green leaves and lovely fall color, moderate resistance to bronze birch borer; a clonally-propagated version of 'Whitespire' birch. In the St. Louis area, it is best sited in a northern or eastern exposure that receives some afternoon shade. Weakened birches become very vulnerable to the bronze birch borer which, in the St. Louis area, typically infects and kills trees that are stressed by summer heat and humidity. In optimum growing conditions, plants will easily spread by suckers. Includes Betula nigra 'BNMTF' Dura Heat™, Betula nigra 'Cully' Heritage™, Betula papyrifera - Paper Birch, Betula pendula 'Dalecarlica' - Cut-leaf Birch, Betula pendula 'Fastigiata', Betula pendula - Silver Birch, Betula platyphylla 'Fargo' Dakota Pinnacle™, Betula platyphylla var. Featuring an elegant, pyramidal habit, it bears ovate, toothed, lime-green leaves, 3 in. The plant performs best in cool northern climates where summer temperatures rarely exceed 75 degrees F. and where shallow root systems are generally covered with snow throughout the winter. Although this gray birch has some susceptibility to aphids, birch skeletonizer and dieback, these problems are usually considered to be somewhat minor in comparison to the birch borer and birch leaf miner. 'Whitespire' Nursery Availability 1 - 10 of 10. Birch leaf miner may also cause significant problems. Keep the root zones cool and moist and consider using soaker hoses and bark mulches. Shiny 1.5"- 3" long 2"-3" wide, alternate, simple leaves ovate to triangular-ovate, unequally serrate to doubly serrate. This species of birch grows poorly and is generally short-lived in the St. Louis climate. It is not recommended for planting south of USDA Zone 7. Tiny monoecious flowers appear in early spring in separate catkins on the same tree: yellowish-brown male flowers in single catkins (to 4” long) at the branch tips and greenish female flowers in smaller, upright catkins (to 1/2” long). Whitespire was first considered a cultivar of the Japanese Asian White Birch (Betula platyphylla japonica). Whitespire Senior Birch has dark green foliage throughout the season. Yellow-brown male catkins appear in fall, remaining on tree through winter and opening in spring. It seems to tolerate drier soils in its native range. Green female catkins are conelike 1/2" long, with 3-lobed scales. Betula is Latin for birch and describes a genus of about 60 species of deciduous trees and shrubs found in many gardens and landscapes throughout the northern hemisphere. Specific epithet come from the Latin populus meaning poplar genus and folia meaning leaves like those of the poplar.Species name comes from Populus (poplar genus) and Latin folia (leaf) in reference to leaf appearance. Betula platyphylla, commonly called Japanese white birch, is a medium to large sized tree noted for its white bark, thin spreading branches and slightly pendant branchlets. Fall color is usually undistinguished. Non-showy flowers, unisexual, catkins. japonica 'Whitespire', Betula 'Penci-2' - Royal Frost ™, Betula utilis var. The Garden wouldn't be the Garden without our Members, Donors and Volunteers. BETULA POPULIFOLIA 'WHITESPIRE' Whitespire has a beautiful spire-like upright form, white non-exfoliating bark and excellent bronze birch borer resistance. Selected at the U of WI this handsome 30-40' x 20' tree offers chalk white bark glossy dark green fine textured foliage tolerant of high temps AND resistance to … NC State University and N.C. A&T State University work in tandem, along with federal, state and local governments, to japonica ‘Whitespire’. Deciduous tree, 30-40 ft (10-12 m) tall, upright habit, bark attractive, grayish-white with black markings, leaves glossy green, yellow in … Betula platyphylla 'Whitespire' Edward Hasselkus A narrow, pyramidal white-barked birch that is tolerant of high temperatures and re-sistant to the bronze birch borer was regis-tered and introduced last year by the author at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Plants have rough-warty twigs.Genus name is the Latin name for birch. 'Whitespire' is best known for its upright form, non-exfoliating white bark, dark green leaves and attractive yellow fall color. Other Names: Betula platyphylla. This white birch was selected at the Arboretum of the University of Wisconsin in Madison because it showed more Bronze Birch Borer resistance than most other white barked birches. This tree is noted for (1) its non-peeling chalky white bark with dark chevron trunk patches appearing below each branch base and (… 10 Search Results. Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day), Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours). Diseases, Insects, and Other Plant Problems: This cultivar can become stressed by summer heat and humidity. It thrives in cool northern summers, but does poorly in the heat and humidity of St. Louis. Vegetatively propagated plants of this cultivar are considered to have better resistance to bronze birch borer than seed propagated plants, resulting in the use of the cultivar name 'Whitespire Senior' by some nurseries as a way of designating those plants which have been vegetatively propagated.