About Silver Birch

A tree with semi-drooping habit to about 25 m. Park smooth at first, silvery white and peppery, becoming dark grey and rough. Deltoid leaves to about 6 cm long with 5-7 pairs of veins and serrate margins. Male catkins up to 9 cm long; female catkins to about 2.5 cm, papery when ripe and separate into large numbers of winged seeds, wind-carried.