Part of birch  genus Betula in alder / birch / hazel / hornbeam  family Betulaceae in bayberry / beech / birch / oak / walnut  order Fagales.

Native to the arctic tundra, and subarctic.  Definitely native to 🇺🇸 Alaska, 🇨🇦 northern Canada, and 🇬🇱 Greenland.  Some sources include Asia, which we interpret as 🇷🇺 Siberia, making it circumpolar.   🗺 Map (North America, Central America).  Adobe Acrobat Reader file   Thus, the shortest of all the birches.  By a lot!  Tree is never more than boot-top- or waist-high, and the leaves are tiny.

Shares the same climate and habitat as gray willow  Salix pulchra and marsh Labrador tea  Rhododendron tomentosum, formerly Ledum palustre.

Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)

Betula hosts caterpillars of 413 species
of butterflies and moths, in some areas.

Learn more about arctic dwarf birch Betula nana

🔍︎ 🔍︎ images Discover Life Encyclopedia of Life Michigan Flora (sister-species Betula pumila) (Minnesota) Wildflower Garden (sister-species Betula pumila) Minnesota Wildflowers (sister-species Betula pumila) Flora of North America USDA PLANTS db USFS Wikipedia