Betula pendula subsp. fontqueri (Rothm.) G. Moreno & Peinado
B. fontqueri Rothm., B. alba var. fontqueri (Rothm.) Maire & Weiller
Eng.: Silver birch. Spa.: Abedul. Fre.: Bouleau verruqueux.
Deciduous tree, monoecious, up to 20 m in height, very irregular in shape, but ± ovate-conical, with straight trunk, not very thick (up to 1 m in diameter), covered by a ± smooth bark, white or ashen-whitish, peeling transversely; in older specimens the base becomes dark brown and fissured longitudinally. Branches ± extended or erect, forming a sparse crown. Branchlets of the first year ± villous; turning glabrescent, reddish-brown or ashen. Leaves (4-7 × 2-5 cm) alternate, deciduous, slightly coriaceous, ovate-rhomboidal, apiculate or ovate-triangular, with margin irregularly serrated. Leaf-blade matt green on the upper side, slightly lighter on the underside, glabrescent; petiole glabrous (1-3 cm). Male flowers in catkins (3-6 cm) solitary, geminate or ternate, cylindrical, semirigid. Female flowers in solitary catkins, formed by trilobulate scales, with 1 central lobule acute and triangular and 2 lateral rounded lobules, slightly arched backwards. Fruit a small ovoid seed, compressed, with 2 styles divergent at the tip and 2 lateral wings of roughly the same size as the seminiferous part, styles largely longer.
Flowering:
April to May.
Fruiting:
July to September.
Habitat:
Mountain forests in humid to hyperhumid bioclimate, on mesomediterranean and supramediterranean floors, with abundant edaphic moisture, usually along the edge of streams and watercourses (1,400-2,000 m), along with Cedrus atlantica, Prunus lusitanica and
Quercus faginea.
Distribution:
The species is distributed across Europe and from northern Asia to Siberia. The subspecies, is found in the Iberian Peninsula. In North Africa it is very rare, only growing in the central Rif (Ketama region, especially in the Tidirhin Massif).
Conservation status:
A relatively common species, it does not seem threatened. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species it is listed as Least Concern (LC) at global level (Stritch et al., 2014). However, subsp. fontqueri is very rare and localised, especially in North Africa, where only a few specimens still survive.