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Betula pendula Roth. - syn.Betula verrucosa Ehrh. - Betulaceae
silver birch, European white birch, Hänge-Birke, Weißbirke, Sandbirke
Erect deciduous tree, up to 25m high; native to Europe, West Asia, Siberia; introduced into North America; with slender usually pendulous branches and white bark readily peeling off in layers; branches and leaves always without hairs; leaves rhombic-ovate, serrate, glutinous when young but glabrous and shining at maturity; petioles slender , strobiles on slender peduncles, usually pendulous, cylindric; wings of nutlet one and a half to two and a half times as broad as its body; blooming April-May.
„Various parts of the tree are used in traditional medicine and the bark contains triterpenes which have been shown to have medicinal properties.“ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Birch
Birch bark has been used as folk medicine externally for treatments of skin rashes, as well as in the form of compresses against abscesses; internally as decoction for skin diseases, dropsy and gout. Birch leaves are used as infusion for „spring cures“, gout and rheumatism and as diuretic for „blood purification“, externally against hair loss and dandruff. The effectiveness of the drug for all these indications has not been established.
[Hagers Handbuch der pharmazeutischen Praxis, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2010]
Major volatiles of fresh birch leaves are (Z)-3-hex-en-1-ol and 1-hexanol.
[Volatiles from nonhost birch trees inhibit pheromone response in spruce bark beetles. Byers, J. A., Zhang, Q. H., Schlyter, F., Birgersson, G., Naturwissenschaften, Vol.85(11), 1998, 557-561]
Köhler, F.E., Medizinal Pflanzen, vol.4, t.33 (1890) [Ev.C.]
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=141268