Downy birch
Betula pubescensDowny birch is a slender, upright tree, often on wet, poorly drained ground. Its bark is dull greyish white, banded with grey. Its young shoots feel velvety, covered in very short hairs.
How to identify downy birch →
Jens-Christian Svenning, CC BY 4.0
Георгий Виноградов (Georgy Vinogradov), CC BY 4.0
Lookalikes
Downy birch or silver birch?
Both are white-barked native birches, and their spring catkins are alike.
The quickest check
The quickest check is the young shoot. Downy birch: velvety, covered in short soft hairs. Silver birch: hairless, rough with tiny white warts.
At a glance
| Look at | Downy birch | Silver birch |
|---|---|---|
| Young shoot | Velvety, covered in short soft hairs | Hairless, rough with tiny white warts |
| Leaf stalk | Soft hairs along its whole length | Smooth and hairless, like the blade |
| Scales of a ripe catkin | Lobes pointing forward to the tip | Side lobes curving back to the base |
| Foot of the trunk | Pale and smooth to the ground, banded grey | Rugged black diamonds and arrows |
Four ways to tell them apart
Young shootTwigs and buds
Leaf stalkLeaves
Scales of a ripe catkinSeed catkins
Foot of the trunkBark
The two trees
Silver birch
Betula pendulaSilver birch is a slim, fast-growing tree with a light, open crown. Its bark is white and papery, with rough black diamonds at the base. The finest twigs hang straight down.
How to identify silver birch →
In the app
See them side by side in Treely
- Both trees, part by partLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed through the year
- Every lookalike side by sideThe checks that settle it, for every pair people mix up
- A short round each dayUntil you can tell them apart at a glance
- The full GuideBoth trees written up in full, with where to find them
Free to download.
Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.
Photographs: Jens-Christian Svenning (CC BY 4.0), Георгий Виноградов (Georgy Vinogradov) (CC BY 4.0), Thomas Gyselinck (CC BY 4.0), Helen Waterman (CC BY 4.0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0), bobwardell (CC0), sim_elliott (CC0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.