Providing year-round interest, Betula medwediewii is producing attractive fruit-catkins.
This spreading birch is producing pendulous, scaled catkins which grow to 6cm in length, produced at the axil of russet-brown stems. This species carries broad, ovate leaves with deep veins and a toothed margin, which turn a golden-yellow in autumn. Once these have fallen the spreading limbs, with their brownish peeling bark, and the large, glossy green buds are exposed.
This Caucasian native is a broad, open, spreading shrub, which can grow to 5m in height, and 10m in spread. First introduced to Kew from sub-alpine zones of the Caucasus, this is a reliable species, which enjoys moderately fertile conditions.