Western Water Birch is a small tree or shrub, growing 20 to 30 feet tall and 15 to 20 feet wide. It tends to grow as a clump with upright, ascending branches. Leaves are oval, sharply pointed, prominently veined, and dark green. Fall color is yellow to orange. Spring catkins and small cone-like fruits mature in the fall and persist into winter, providing interest and forage for birds. Bark is smooth, reddish brown, with thin, cream lenticels (rather like a cherry tree). A Utah native.
Grow in sun to part shade, in well drained to wet soils. Clay-loam to rocky-loam soils. Will tolerate alkaline soils to 7.0 pH. Though having a higher water need than many of the trees in this database, Western Water birch is a lovely tree, well suited to our riparian corridor areas, though it ought to manage well is situated next to a lawn where it can benefit from the extra moisture. Not suited to very hot, dry sites. More borer-resistant than other birches. A Utah native, it is found in riparian areas.