Culture
Best grown in acidic, evenly moist to wet, well-draining soils in full sun. Tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions including shallow, gravely loams, heavy clays, and poor, wet, boggy soils. Intolerant of shade. Hardy in Zones 2-6.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Betula glandulosa, commonly called resin birch, glandular birch, or bog birch, is a deciduous shrub native to wetlands, bogs, fens, swamps, wet, montane meadows, and boreal forest openings as well as rocky summits, barrens, ridges, and outcrops in arctic, alpine, and subalpine regions of the United States and Canada. Its range extends from Alaska through all of Canada to far northern New York, New Hampshire, and Maine, as well as south to high altitude areas of the Rocky Mountains and Cascade Range. It can be found across a wide range of elevations, from sea level up to 11,000'. Mature plants will reach 3-10' tall with a spreading to rounded canopy of a similar width, often forming thickets. Resin birchs growing in arctic and upland habitats are typically much shorter and more procumbent compared to those growing in warmer climates and hydric soils. The bark is dark brown and the twigs are typically covered in conspicuous, resinous glands. The leathery leaves are obovate to nearly rounded with scalloped margins and will reach 0.25-1.25" long and 0.25-1" wide. The leaf surfaces also have resinous glands. The foliage turns shades of orange to dark red in the fall. The cylindrical male catkins are held at the twig ends and elongate to around 1" long in late spring when shedding pollen. The upright female catkins will also reach around 1" long and break apart when the small, winged seeds are released in late fall. Resin birch is an important food source for ungulates such as moose, deer, elk, mountain goats, and caribou as well as other mammals including beavers and rabbits. The thickets provide cover and habitat for game birds such as the white-tailed ptarmigan, rock ptarmigan, and spruce grouse, songbirds such as chickadees, sparrows, and the Canada jay, and mammals such as bears, otters, voles, and mice. Inuit and Gwich'in peoples use this plant for firewood and to make bedding mats and brooms.
Genus name is the Latin name for birch.
The specific epithet glandulosa means "having glands", and refers to the resinous glands present on the twigs of this species.
The common names resin birch and glandular birch refer to the resinous glands which cover the twigs of this species. The common name bog birch refers to one of the many habitats this plant can be found growing in.
Problems
No major pest or disease problems of note.
Uses
Allow to naturalize along stream banks, lake and pond edges, in bogs, marshes, and other riparian areas. Can be used to add structure and fall color to woodland edges, rock gardens, and other mixed borders. Suitable for erosion control on slopes or as a coarse, shrubby ground cover.