Darkness is an attractive medium-sized birch tree which features shiny dark copper bark, speckled with white.
Darkness does best in good soils in a sunny location, but will tolerate periods of drought or flooding.
'Darkness' is a form of Betula utilis, and was collected from the Kingdom of Bhutan in the eastern Himalayas. It is sometimes known as 'Dark-Ness', after Ness Gardens in north-west England, where it was planted in 1984. It appears closely related to the Chinese red birch (Betula albo-sinensis) which also features peeling bark.
Illustrative example of a pot-grown tree of this variety as supplied. Approximate girth: 6/8cm. We try to keep all pot-grown trees down to about 1.5m as supplied, but some may be larger. Trees should reach their mature height after about 10 or more years.