While I was wandering with my camera in the Birch Family Collection on the west side of Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL, I came upon two maturing trees planted there. They were labeled as the Turkistan Birch (Betula turkestanica); however, I found on this Garden.org site that it is now recognized as the Tian-Shan or Tianshan or Tianan Birch. This species is native to the mountain areas of Central Asia. It looks to me much like our River Birch. Its bark also ranges from pinkish-creamy smooth to flaking gray and brown and gray-brown. It eventually will probably become more plated and dark gray-brown when old. The leaves are similar to River Birch also. There is a cultivar of 'Emerald Flare' that has more creamy smooth bark longer than the mother species; sort of like the cultivar of River Birch called ''Heritage.' It is good that the arboretum is helping to preserve this species, as it is endangered in its native habitat. I don't see this as becoming a big item in the USA. Its advantage over the River Birch is that it grows smaller and can tolerate alkaline soils.

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