Betula fruticosa Pallas var. gmelinii Regel.

Shrubs to 3 m tall; bark gray-black. Branches dark brown or gray-brown, glabrous; branchlets densely pubescent and villous, sometimes slightly scabrous, with dense, resinous glands. Petiole slender, 2-7 mm; leaf blade elliptic, ovate, or broadly ovate, 1.5-4 × 1-2.5 cm, glabrous, abaxially resinous punctate when young, base cuneate or broadly cuneate, margin irregularly acutely minutely serrate, apex acute or rounded-obtuse; lateral veins 4-6 on each side of midvein. Female inflorescence erect, oblong, 1-2.2 cm × 8-9 mm; peduncle 3-6 mm or ± obscure; bracts 5-6 mm, 3-lobed, middle lobe oblong, lateral lobes spreading, ovate, slightly shorter than and ca. 2 × as wide as middle lobe. Nutlet obovate-elliptic, ca. 3 × 1.5 mm, with membranous wings 1-2 × as wide as nutlet. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Jul-Aug.

Sandy hills, deserts; 500-1000 m. N Heilongjiang, N Liaoning, Nei Mongol [N Mongolia, Russia (E Siberia)]