A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus Betula, in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus Betula contains 30 to 60 known taxa of which 11 are on the IUCN 2011 Red List of Threatened Species. They are typically short-lived pioneer species and are widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in northern areas of temperate climates and in boreal climates. Birch wood, the wood of the birch, is used for a wide range of purposes.
Birch
The front and rear view of a piece of birch bark
Birch leaves
A birch-curtain in November in Ystad.
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flowering; and to the shedding of ripe fruit. The antonym of deciduous in the botanical sense is evergreen.
Like a number of other deciduous plants, Forsythia flowers during the leafless season.
Deciduous plants in mid- to high latitudes shed their leaves as temperatures drop in autumn.
Deciduous trees were introduced to the temperate regions of Australia where they are used as ornamental plants, as seen here at a suburban street in Sydney.
Dry-season deciduous tropical forest
