The dwarf birch, the small birch , or the dwarf birch , ( Latin: Bétula nána ) is a species of plants of the genus Birch ( Betula ) of the Birch family ( Betulaceae ).
| Dwarf birch | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 General view of an adult plant. Greenland | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Betula nana L. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Content
Terminology
The names ernik [2] , ernik , birch yernik , slate , birch slate , ernik-slate , carla , yer are also found in Russian. [3]
Distribution and Ecology
The species range covers almost the entire territory of Europe , except for the extremely southern regions, and almost the entire territory of Canada [4] . On the territory of Russia grows in the north of the European part of Russia , in Western Siberia and Yakutia , Chukotka , and Kamchatka .
Outside the north, it can be found in the mountains above 300 m, it is found in the mountains up to 835 m in Scotland and up to 2200 m in the Alps .
Birch forms continuous thickets in the Arctic tundra , in the alpine zone , on mossy sphagnum or hypnous bogs in the forest zone , called erniks .
Botanical Description
Deciduous strongly branched shrub 20–70 (up to 120) cm high, with upright or open shoots . Young shoots are densely velvety or fluffy, later almost naked, with a dark brown or reddish-brown bark .
The leaf arrangement is alternate. The leaves are rounded, rarely rounded oval, 5–15 mm long, 10–20 mm wide, rounded at the base or, often, widely wedge-shaped, with a rounded apex, broad-wedge-shaped base, with blunt dentate edges. Leaves above are dark green, glossy, below are light green and diffusely fluffy; sticky at a young age. Petioles are short, 4-6 mm long.
The flowers are small, nondescript, same-sex. The stamen earrings are sessile, erect, 5–15 (up to 20) mm long, 1.5–2 mm in diameter, with yellow anthers . Pistillate - on short pubescent legs, oval or elongated-ovoid, light brown, 5-8 mm long (with fruits up to 12) mm, 3-5 mm in diameter (with fruits up to 6) mm. Bracts of scales 2.5-3 mm long, with three upward directed, linearly-oblong, slightly ciliary lobes.
The fruit is a small elliptical nutlet 2 mm long, 1 mm wide, with very narrow membranous wings on the sides.
Blooms before the leaves bloom. Fruiting in April - June.
Economic value
In the north it is used as fuel, leaves and branches serve as food for deer .
Classification
Taxonomy
The dwarf Birch species is part of the genus Birch ( Betula ) of the subfamily Birch ( Betuloideae ) of the Birch family ( Betulaceae ) of the order Bucotsvetnye ( Fagales ).
| 7 more families (according to APG II System ) | another 1-2 kind | |||||||||||||||
| the order of the bucoliferous | subfamily Birch | view Dwarf birch | ||||||||||||||
| Department of Flowering, or Angiosperms | Birch family | kind Birch | ||||||||||||||
| 44 more order flowering plants (according to APG II System ) | another subfamily, Hazel (according to APG II System ) | more than 110 species | ||||||||||||||
Representatives
The view is divided into two subspecies : [4]
- Betula nana subsp. nana
- Betula nana subsp. exilis ( Sukaczev ) Hultén [ syn. Betula exilis Sukaczev basionym ]
In subspecies nana, young shoots are pubescent, but not sticky; the leaves are longer (up to 2.5 cm), usually the length and width are approximately the same. The subspecies is widespread in the northwestern part of Asia , Europe (to the south - in the Alps at high altitudes), in Greenland , on the island of Baffin Island ( Canada ).
In the exilis subspecies, young shoots are undescended or have separate scattered, sticky hairs. Leaves are shorter (no more than 12 mm long), often the width is greater than the length. A subspecies is widespread in northeastern Asia, in the north of North America ( Alaska , Canada).
Notes
- ↑ For the conventionality of specifying the class of dicotyledons as a superior taxon for the plant group described in this article, see the APG Systems section of the Dicotyledonous article .
- ↑ Jornik // Euclid - Ibsen. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1972. - ( Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. Ed. A. M. Prokhorov ; 1969-1978, vol. 9).
- ↑ Ernik // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- ↑ 1 2 According to the GRIN website (see plant card).
Literature
- Genus 1. Betula L. - Birch // Trees and shrubs of the USSR. Wild, cultivated and promising for introduction. / Ed. volumes S. Ya. Sokolov . - M. - L .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR , 1951. - T. II. Angiosperms. - S. 326. - 612 p. - 2500 copies.
- Kuzeneva O. I. Genus 364. Birch - Betula L. // Flora of the USSR : in 30 t / h. ed. V.L. Komarov . - M .; L .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR , 1936. - T. 5 / ed. volumes V. L. Komarov. - S. 301-302. - 762, XXVI p. - 5175 copies.
- Grozdova N. B., Nekrasov V. I., Globa-Mikhailenko D. A. Trees, shrubs and creepers: A reference book. - M .: Lesn. industry, 1986.- S. 110.
- Skvortsov V.E. Educational atlas. Flora of Central Russia. - M .: CheRo, 2004 .-- S. 115.
- Ernik // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
Links
- Dwarf birch : information about the taxon in the Plantarium project (a identifier of plants and an illustrated atlas of species).