Betula occidentalis

Water birch or red birch is a member of the birch or Betulaceae family and is native to northern North America, being found in all provinces of Canada and in Alaska and in America states just south of the Great Lakes, as well as south to eastern California, northern Arizona and northern New Mexico. It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 10 m high, usually with multiple trunks.

• Leaves are alternate, simple, oval to rhombic, 1–7 cm long and 1–4.5 cm across, with a serrated margin and two to six pairs of veins, and a short petiole up to 1.5 cm long. Leaves turn yellow in the late fall.
• Species is monoecious; flowers are catkins 2–4 cm long, with male catkins pendulous and female catkins upright. Seed cones fragment over the winter, dropping their 2-winged seeds for dispersal.
• Bark is dark red-brown to blackish, and smooth but not exfoliating; twigs are glabrous or thinly hairy.