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''Betula utilis'', the Himalayan birch (''bhojpatra'', sa, भूर्ज ''bhūrjá''), is a
deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...
tree native to the
Western Himalayas The Western Himalayas refers to the western half of the Himalayas, in northern Pakistan and northwestern India. It is also known as the Punjab Himalayas. Four of the five tributaries of the Indus River in Punjab (Beas, Chenab, Jhelum, and Ravi) ...
, growing at elevations up to . The Latin specific epithet ''utilis'' means "useful", and refers to the many uses of the different parts of the tree. The white, paper-like bark was used in ancient times for writing
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
scriptures and texts. It is still used as paper for the writing of sacred mantras, with the bark placed in an amulet and worn for protection. Selected varieties are used for landscaping throughout the world, even while some areas of its native habitat are being lost due to overuse of the tree for firewood.


Taxonomy

''Betula utilis'' was described and named by botanist
David Don David Don (21 December 1799 – 15 December 1841) was a Scottish botanist. Biography David Don was born on 21 December 1799 at Doo Hillock, Forfar, Angus, Scotland to Caroline Clementina Stuart, and her husband George Don of Forfar. His olde ...
in his ''Prodromus Florae Nepalensis'' (1825), from specimens collected by Nathaniel Wallich in Nepal in 1820. ''Betula jacquemontii'' ( Spach), first described and named in 1841, was later found to be a variety of ''B. utilis'', and is now ''Betula utilis'' var. ''jacquemontii''.


Description

In its native habitat, ''B. utilis'' tends to form forests, growing as a shrub or tree reaching up to tall. It frequently grows among scattered conifers, with an undergrowth of shrubs that typically includes evergreen '' Rhododendron''. The tree depends on moisture from snowmelt, rather than from the monsoon rains. They often have very bent growth due to the pressure of the deep winter snow in the Himalaya. Leaves are ovate, long, with serrated margins, and slightly hairy. Flowering occurs from May–July, with only a few male catkins, and short, single (sometimes paired) female catkins. The
perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla ( petals) or tepals when ...
has four parts in male flowers, and is absent in the female flowers. Fruits ripen in September–October. The thin, papery bark is very shiny, reddish brown, reddish white, or white, with horizontal lenticels. The bark peels off in broad, horizontal belts, making it very usable for creating even large pages for texts. A fungal growth, locally called ''bhurja-granthi'', forms black lumps on the tree weighing up to 1 kg. The wood is very hard and heavy, and quite brittle. The heartwood is pink or light reddish brown.


History and use

The bark of Himalayan birch was used centuries ago in India as paper for writing lengthy scriptures and texts in Sanskrit and other scripts, particularly in historical Kashmir. Its use as paper for books is mentioned by early Sanskrit writers Kalidasa (c. 4th century CE), Sushruta (c. 3rd century CE), and Varahamihira (6th century CE). In the late 19th century, Kashmiri pandits reported all of their books were written on Himalayan birch bark until Akbar introduced paper in the 16th century. The Sanskrit word for the tree is ''bhûrja''—sharing a similarity with other
Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
words that provide the origin for the common name "birch". The bark is still used for writing sacred
mantra A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...
s, which are placed in an amulet and worn around the neck for protection or blessing. This practice was mentioned as early as the 8th or 9th century CE, in the Lakshmi Tantra, a
Pancaratra ''Pancharatra'' (IAST: ''Pāñcarātra'') was a religious movement in Hinduism that originated in late 3rd-century BCE around the ideas of Narayana and the various avatars of Vishnu as their central deities. According to legend, the bark was also used as clothing by attendants of
Lord Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
. The bark is widely used for packaging material (particularly butter), roof construction, umbrella covers, bandages, and more. The wood is used for bridge construction, and the foliage for fodder. The most widespread use is for firewood, which has caused large areas of habitat to be eliminated or reduced. Parts of the plant, including the fungal growth (''bhurja-granthi'') have also long been used in local traditional medicine.


Conservation

Deforestation due to overuse of the tree has caused loss of habitat for many native groves of ''B. utilis'' (locally called ''bhojpatra'' in the Indian Himalaya). The first high-altitude ''bhojpatra'' nursery was established in 1993 at Chirbasa, just above Gangotri, where many Hindus go on pilgrimage to the source of the sacred
Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
river. Dr. Harshvanti Bisht, a Himalayan mountaineer, established the first nursery and continues to expand the reforestation of ''bhojpatra'' in the Gangotri area and inside
Gangotri National Park Gangotri National Park is a national park in Uttarkashi District of Uttarakhand in India, covering about . Its habitat consists of coniferous forests, alpine meadows and glaciers. Gaumukh at Gangotri glacier, the origin of river Ganga, is loc ...
. About 12,500 bhojpatra saplings had been planted in the area by the year 2000. In recent years, attempts have been made to ban the collection of ''bhojpatra'' trees in the Gangotri area.


Varieties and cultivars

Many named varieties and cultivars are used in landscaping throughout the world. In the eastern end of the tree's native distribution, several forms have orange- or copper-colored bark. ''Betula utilis'' var. ''jacquemontii'', from the western end of the native habitat, is widely used because several cultivars have especially white bark. The following have gained the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...
's Award of Garden Merit:- *'Doorenbos' *'Fascination' *'Forest Blush' *'Grayswood Ghost' *'Jermyns' *'Park Wood' *'Silver Shadow' The bark of 'Wakehurst Place Chocolate', as the name implies, is dark brown to nearly black.


References


External links


Bhojpatra conservation in Gangotri-GaumukhDavid Don's description in ''Prodromus floræ Nepalensis''Flora of China
{{Taxonbar, from=Q930814 utilis Trees of Afghanistan Flora of the Indian subcontinent Trees of China Writing media Western Himalayan broadleaf forests Plants described in 1825 Garden plants of Asia Ornamental trees Trees of Nepal