Barking up another tree!

I left it rather late to look for a Blip today - it was dull and got duller! This tree isn't quite as striking as the Acer griseum I Blipped a couple of days ago, but rather handsome in a different way.

This is Betula ermanii, a native of NE Asia. I think some of these birches are mixed up in the trade - there are so many varieties and hybrids. The horizontal lenticels are also quite interesting - they act as pores to allow exchange of gases between the cells under the bark and the atmosphere outside, as bark is supposedly impermeable.

Birches are my favourite trees, I think - so light and graceful, and quick-growing too.