Betula bhojpattra Lindley var. sinensis Franchet; B. utilis D. Don var. sinensis (Franchet) H. Winkler.

Trees to 30 m tall; bark orange-red or orange, shiny, exfoliating in papery flakes. Branchlets reddish brown, glabrous, sometimes resinous glandular. Petiole 0.5-1.5 cm; leaf blade ovate, ovate-elliptic, or ovate-oblong, 3-8 × 2-5 cm, abaxially densely resinous punctate, sparsely villous, adaxially glabrous, base rounded or subcordate, rarely broadly cuneate, margin irregularly and doubly mucronate serrate, apex acuminate; lateral veins 10-14 on each side of midvein. Female inflorescence 1, or 2 or 3 in a raceme, oblong-cylindric, 3-4 × 1-1.2 cm; peduncle slender, ca. 1 cm; bracts 4-7 mm, 3-lobed, middle lobe oblong or lanceolate, lateral lobes spreading, suborbicular, ca. 1/3 as long as middle lobe. Nutlet ovate, 2-3 mm, with membranous wings ca. as wide as nutlet. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Aug.

The wood is hard, dense, and rather brittle, with the heartwood pinkish or light red-brown; it is used for many purposes.

* Temperate broad-leaved forests; 1000-3400 m. S Gansu, Hebei, Henan, W Hubei, S Ningxia (Liupan Shan), Qinghai, S Shaanxi (Hua Shan, Taibai Shan), Shanxi, E Sichuan