Betula uber

Betula uber NatureServe Explorer Species Reports — NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and Canada. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports — Betula uber ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.

The tree was first described in 1914 as a variety of Betula lenta, and elevated to species status in 1945. It hybridizes with B. lenta and it has been suggested that it is actually a round-leaved mutant form of B. lenta.Some authorities prefer to treat it as a variety.

After it was first discovered in 1914, the tree was not seen again and was thought to be extinct until 1975, when some individuals were found. These 18 adult trees and 23 saplings and seedlings were in a forest along the degraded banks of Cressy Creek on Smyth County, Virginia. The tree was federally listed as an endangered species and conservation efforts were begun. Many seedlings were sprouted in greenhouses and planted in the forest. By 1995 there were 20 populations and it was downlisted to threatened status. The tree was propagated in order to discourage collectors from taking wild specimens, or vandals from destroying them.A recent count estimated 961 individuals in the wild as of 2006.Eight of these are in the original creekside population. The species will not be removed from the endangered species list yet because it has not been observed reproducing sexually, and naturally, more than once. The expansion of its range is limited because the area is surrounded by agricultural land, but the territory on which the tree occurs is not immediately threatened

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