カバノキ科カバノキ属の落葉高木で、学名は Betula platyphylla var. japonica。英名は White birch。
The White birch (Betula platyphylla var. japonica) belongs to Betulaceae (the Birch family). It is a tall deciduous tree that is native to northward from Fukui-Gufu prefecture of Honshu to Hokkaido of Japan, as well as the Korean Peninsula, China and eastern Siberia. This tree grows in sunny mountains and can reach 10-25 m in height. The barks are usually white and peel thinly. Though they are light brown if the tree is planted in warm-climate. The leaves are triangular-broad-ovate and alternate. The drooping male inflorescences are borne at the tips of branches, and the upright female inflorescences are borne on the short branchlets, from April to May almost as soon as foliation. In Chinese, it is called "白樺" (bai hua).