Betulaceae - Birch, Alder and Hazel family

All images on this website have been taken in Leicestershire and Rutland by NatureSpot members. We welcome new contributions - just register and use the Submit Records form to post your photos. Click on any image below to visit the species page. The RED / AMBER / GREEN dots indicate how easy it is to identify the species - see our Identification Difficulty page for more information. A coloured rating followed by an exclamation mark denotes that different ID difficulties apply to either males and females or to the larvae - see the species page for more detail.

Trees, Shrubs & Climbers

'Trees, Shrubs & Climbers' encompass all woody species.  Whilst it is not a strict scientific term, Trees and Shrubs are often the subject of separate field guides.

'Wildflowers', 'Grasses, Sedges & Rushes', 'Ferns & Horsetails', 'Mosses' and 'Liverworts' can be found in separate species Galleries.   Note that some families e.g. the Rose family (Rosaceae) and the Pea family (Fabaceae) have both woody and herbaceous species in them, so there are separate galleries for these families in 'Wildflowers'.  Some low-growing plants (e.g. in the Heather family, Ericaceae) are actually dwarf shrubs and therefore included here; in some cases where we thought this may be confusing we have included them in the 'Wildflowers' gallery as well.

See our Recording Trees, Wildflowers & Grasses page for useful guidance on what to record.

More on recording in Leicestershire and Rutland and contacts for our County Recorders are on the webpage of our local VC55 branch of the BSBI.

Clive Stace’s ‘New Flora of the British Isles' - 4th edition (C&M Floristics, 2019) is the standard reference book that NatureSpot uses for verifying records. 

The Woodland Trust's How to Identify Trees - a step by step illustrated guide.

Johnson, O. 2006. Collins Tree Guide (Collins) - include European trees as well

Mitchell, A. 1978. Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe (Collins Field Guide) - it includes rare species usually only found in tree collections and arboretums

Sterry, P. 2008. British Trees: A photographic guide to every common species (Collins Complete guide) - covers trees found in the British Isles outside arboretums

If you know of other websites or books that you would recommend, do let us know: info@naturespot.co.uk

Betulaceae - Birch, Alder and Hazel family