A genus of the birch family (Betulaceae). Evergreen monoecious trees and shrubs. The bark of the trunk is white. The leaves are entire or lobed, with a toothed margin, and are alternate. Flowers unisexual, collected in panicles. The spikes of male flowers are long, cylindrical, with 2-4 branches at the ends; formed in the summer of the previous year. Female flower panicles short, erect or drooping, 1–2 leaves in spikes; develops in spring from short-branched buds. Blooms during the flowering period. Pollinated by the wind. Fruit ~3mm long, flat two-winged nut. Enters VII-IX. Spread by the wind. 4 species in the wild in Latvia.

Birch groves occupy ~29% of the total area of ​​Latvian forests. The outdoor or warty birch (B. pendula syn. B. verrucosa) is more common. It is a light-demanding tree with white bark (that) which is ~20g. in old trees, starting from the bottom of the trunk, it turns into a black, thick crust. Branches drooping, thin, long, glabrous, warty (with lenticels). Leaves rhombic, glabrous, shiny. Propagated by seeds and stem cuttings. Grows better in loose, humus-rich soil. It is often sown in fallow areas, it can also be found in thickets in the middle of fields and forms a characteristic landscape of Latvia. Reaches a height of 30m. Life span ~150 years.