Betula pendula is a species of deciduous broadleaf flowering plants (in the Betulaceae or Birch family), native to Britain, Europe, the mountains of Morocco, the Caucasus, northern Turkey and Iran, temperate latitudes of Asia, Canada and Alaska. It is a medium-sized and fairly slender tree, up to about 20 metres tall. It has an airy canopy of pendulous branches that give the tree a graceful appearance and its specific name pendula, while its English name refers to the distinctive white papery bark of younger trees. Older bark develops dark diamond-shaped marks, forming a lattice around the remaining lighter bark, and eventually becomes entirely dark and rugged, especially at the base of the tree.

The twigs of Betula pendula are smooth except for small dark warts, distinctive for the species. It produces male catkins in an immature form during the winter, which become long, yellow and pendulous in spring, when the short green female catkins appear, with the leaves. After pollination by wind, the female catkins ripen over the summer into cylinders of small seeds, which are dispersed by the wind. The leaves are small, light green and roughly triangular, with a fairly flat base, pointed tip, and toothed edges (doubly serrated, meaning with two sizes of forward-facing teeth). They turn bright or golden yellow in autumn before they fall.

Despite looking somewhat delicate, Betula pendula is a hardy tree, a pioneer species, which can thrive in poor soils and exposed conditions, and grows at high latitude, well into the Arctic circle. It was elected the national tree of Finland in 1988. It is cultivated both for its appearance, and for timber, which is used for furniture, veneer and plywood, and is good as firewood.

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