610208-09 The Betula fruticosa aggregate B. fruticosa, B. pumila
Geography: Circumboreal.
Notes: Hultén and Fries (1986) mapped a Betula humilis aggregate, including the central and eastern European and western Siberian B. humilis Schrank, the (according to them) mainly Chinese B. fruticosa Pall., the northeastern Asian B. extremiorientalis, and the North American B. pumila. There is a ploidy difference. Eurasian plants are diploid, whereas the North American B. pumila is tetraploid. Shemberg (1992) and Nedolushko (1996a) assigned all the arctic Asian plants to B. fruticosa. We follow these authors.
Higher Taxa
- Betula [6102,genus]