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United States / Grow / downy birch

downy birch

Betula pubescens · Betulaceae · all Betula records · also called Betula pubescens · Wikipedia

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Form
tree
Region
Poland; Sweden
Rated in
Global
On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence
Mixed evidence — location does not change the cited classification.
Evidence regions
Global

2. Why this plant is relevant here

Introduced / established
8 sourced range or established records. This is not an invasive warning.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Reported invasive here
1 ecological invasive report.
How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Native and introduced range evidence

These are exact U.S. botanical-area records from the cited range source. Native and introduced describe biogeographic relationship, not fire performance or planting approval. Doubtful and extinct rows stay visible but do not count as current presence.

Current native

0

exact source areas

Current introduced

8

exact source areas

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

8 introduced source areas · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04
  • Connecticut (CT)
  • Indiana (IN)
  • Massachusetts (MA)
  • Maryland (MD)
  • Maine (ME)
  • Ohio (OH)
  • Pennsylvania (PA)
  • Vermont (VT)

The lossless worldwide derivative is retained once in the research corpus; object pages repeat only exact U.S. areas needed by the local lens. The JSON twin carries the same page assertions.

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Listed without a rating (24)
Corroboration (24 rows from 1 source)

  • FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database — Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography · Dryad version 9 · original source Corroboration Trait database lineage: meta-aggregator

    24 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.

    • Primary study vanAltena2012: van Altena, C., van Logtestijn, R. S., Cornwell, W. K., & Cornelissen, J. H. (2012). Species composition and fire: non-additive mixture effects on ground fuel flammability. Front Plant Sci, 3, 63.

      Shared row context: fuel all; predrying yes; device burning bench; site vanAltena2012-1; sampling september.

      • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 773.16”

        FLAMITS record 13384; Combustibility measurement; plant part stems.

      • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 584.06”

        FLAMITS record 13385; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves.

      • Shared measurement context: Sustainability measurement; plant part stems.

        • “flaming duration (s): 423.23”

          FLAMITS record 13389.

        • “rate of burning spread (cm/s): 0.05”

          FLAMITS record 13394.

      • Shared measurement context: Sustainability measurement; plant part leaves.

        • “flaming duration (s): 128.66”

          FLAMITS record 13390.

        • “rate of burning spread (cm/s): 0.15”

          FLAMITS record 13395.

    • Primary study Blauw2017: Blauw, L. G., van Logtestijn, R. S. P., Broekman, R., Aerts, R., & Cornelissen, J. H. (2017). (Tree species identity in high-latitude forests determines fire spread through fuel ladders from branches to soil and vice versa. Forest Ecology and Management 400, 475-484.

      Shared row context: Combustibility measurement; plant part twigs; fuel all; predrying yes; device burning bench; site Blauw2017-1; sampling ND.

      • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 531.82”

        FLAMITS record 17146.

      • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 561.85”

        FLAMITS record 17149.

      • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 526.92”

        FLAMITS record 17152.

      • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 626”

        FLAMITS record 17155.

      • “temperature increase rate (°C/s): 72.5”

        FLAMITS record 17158.

      • “temperature increase rate (°C/s): 58.65”

        FLAMITS record 17161.

    • Primary study Wesolowski2003: Weso?owski, M., & Konieczynski, P. (2003). Thermal decomposition and elemental composition of medicinal plant materials—Leaves and flowers Principal component analysis of the results. Thermochimica Acta, 397, 171–180.

      Shared row context: plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device thermal analyzer; site Wesolowski2003-1; sampling ND.

      • Shared measurement context: consumability measurement.

        • “burnt biomass (%): 7”

          FLAMITS record 18358.

        • “burnt biomass (%): 50.5”

          FLAMITS record 18385.

        • “burnt biomass (%): 40.5”

          FLAMITS record 18412.

      • Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 80”

          FLAMITS record 18439.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 275”

          FLAMITS record 18466.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 455”

          FLAMITS record 18493.

        • “flame height (cm): 0.7”

          FLAMITS record 18520.

        • “flame height (cm): 2.5”

          FLAMITS record 18547.

        • “flame height (cm): 1.2”

          FLAMITS record 18574.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 85”

          FLAMITS record 18601.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 305”

          FLAMITS record 18628.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 460”

          FLAMITS record 18655.

Fire-resistant trees instead

post oak
Quercus stellata northern red oak
Quercus rubra Gambel oak
Quercus gambelii American basswood
Tilia americana oak
Quercus spp. Dahurian larch
Larix gmelinii
Same genus in the directory · the Betula group page

Last verified 2026-08-25. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · Wikipedia · ITIS

Betula pubescens (Betula pubescens). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/betula-pubescens/. Last verified 2026-08-25.