Dwarf Birch

(Betula nana), a plant in the birch family. It is a low shrub, 20–70 cm high, rarely reaching 1.5 m. The leathery leaves are round, have short stalks, and have blunt-toothed edges; they reach 2 cm in width and have a dense and sharply projecting system of veins on the bottom side. Dwarf birches form vast thickets in arctic and cold regions. In forest zones, they grow in swamps. In the USSR they are encountered primarily in the north, reaching the Enisei River in the east. The leaves of the dwarf birch serve as food for deer, and the wood is used as fuel. Closely related to this species are the shrubs B. exilis, B. rotundifolia, and B. middendorffii.