Ornäsbjörk 'Dalecarlica'

The Story of Ornäsbjörk

Betula pendula 'Dalecarlica' E™ – Ornäsbjörk E

The ornäsbjörk, or Betula pendula 'Dalecarlica' E™, is a truly unique and celebrated tree—recently returning to Swedish nurseries with E-certification, ensuring that buyers receive genuine, true-to-type trees. The E-mark secures quality and origin: every tree is guaranteed to be a clone descended from the original ornäsbjörk discovered over 250 years ago. After more than three decades of absence from the market, the real ornäsbjörk is once again available. You'll find them this autumn labeled as Betula pendula 'Dalecarlica' E™, ornäsbjörk E.

Från E-planta
E-märkningen garanterar rätt klon.

A Swedish Treasure Rooted in History

The ornäsbjörk is more than just a beautiful tree—it has a storied past. In 1767, Hans Gustav Hjort found a slender birch with deeply lobed, fine and graceful leaves in a woodland edge on his estate, Lilla Ornäs in Dalarna. Enthralled by his discovery, Hjort moved the sapling—its trunk as thick as a finger—to more fertile ground to give it a better start.

Just a year later, Hjort wrote to Carl von Linné (Linnaeus) in Uppsala, enclosing a few of the curious leaves. Linnaeus was so excited that he requested the tree be sent to Uppsala so he could show students the botanical richness of Sweden. However, Hjort was too attached and declined to part with his rare find—a story that reflects just how special the ornäsbjörk is to Swedish botanical heritage.

Keeping the Line Alive

It took over a century before the future of ornäsbjörken was secured. In 1878, Erik Lindgren—director of Experimentalfältet, a division of the Royal Academy of Agriculture in Stockholm—visited Ornäs, seeking out the famed tree he'd heard about. Upon seeing it, Lindgren immediately recognized its uniqueness, distinct from all other flikbladiga (lobed-leaf) birches. That same year, he collected graftwood from the Lilla Ornäs tree and succeeded in propagating it. A couple of Lindgren’s original trees still stand in Frescati, Stockholm. Notably, one of them is the mother plant to every ornäsbjörk E available today.

An Elegant Choice for All Gardens

Ornäsbjörk E is renowned for its gracefully slender and deeply cut leaves—a signature trait that distinguishes the true ornäsbjörk from other similar birches. The elegant, lush foliage, hanging outermost twigs, and a trunk peeling in elliptical or rhomboid patterns make this tree an ornamental wonder. Even in autumn and winter, the crown remains free of withered leaves.

This birch is also remarkably cold-hardy, thriving up to zone 7. It ultimately grows into a tall, stately tree—reaching 20–25 meters with a broad crown—ideal both for spacious gardens and parkland. For those with a smaller garden, young trees display the same attractive characteristics and mature slowly, letting you enjoy their beauty for many years before they become too large.

Genuine vs. False Ornäsbjörkar

Authentic ornäsbjörk is easily recognized as the most finely divided of all lobed birches. Nevertheless, over the years, less deeply lobed birches have been mistakenly—and often unknowingly—sold as ornäsbjörk. Even professional botanists and nurseries have found it difficult to correctly identify the different types. When ornäsbjörk was declared Sweden’s national tree (riksträd) in 1985, and cities began planting one in every municipality, most planted Betula pendula 'Laciniata' by mistake. While attractive, 'Laciniata' is not as beautiful nor as robust as the genuine Betula pendula 'Dalecarlica' E™.

To rectify this mix-up, producers of true ornäsbjörk now offer every municipality a free, verified Betula pendula 'Dalecarlica' E™ as a replacement.

Rune Bengtsson, a research leader at the Centre for Biological Diversity in Alnarp, has been instrumental in clarifying the ornäsbjörk's history. According to Bengtsson, of the estimated 20,000–25,000 so-called ornäsbjörk trees in Sweden, only 150–200 are actually genuine—excluding the newly available E-certified trees. He notes that the real ornäsbjörk had been absent from commerce for over thirty years, likely because it’s more challenging to propagate than lookalike varieties.

Preserving Heritage through Science

The nationwide effort to revive the authentic ornäsbjörk has involved the E-group of Swedish nurseries, working with Elitplantstationen and SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences). With starting material from the historic Frescati tree, and thanks to advancements in micropropagation techniques, the E-marked ornäsbjörk is once again widely available. E-gruppen nurseries collaborate closely with Elitplantstationen and SLU, ensuring that E-planta labeled trees and shrubs are both regionally suited and true to their heritage.

Recognized by Botanists—and Sweden

The ornäsbjörk’s legacy began in 1767, but official recognition soon followed. In 1781, Linnaeus the Younger classified the tree as Betula alba dalecarlica. Later, physician C.M. Blom published an article on the tree, calling it Betula hybrida, and speculated (incorrectly) that it was a cross between birch and Norway maple.

The mother tree at Lilla Ornäs was finally brought into wider propagation in 1878 by Erik Lindgren, but the original Ornäs tree succumbed to a storm on April 16, 1887. The only known photographs of this mother tree were taken in 1878 by a Norwegian biologist, and their fate is unknown; however, an engraving based on those photos appeared in F.C. Schübeler's 1885 Norwegian flora Viridarium Norvegicum.

A Living Symbol for Generations

Today, thanks to the concerted efforts of researchers, botanists, and nurseries, the ornäsbjörk continues to inspire with its singular beauty and storied past. As a living symbol of Swedish botanical and cultural heritage, planting an E-marked ornäsbjörk means planting history itself—giving gardeners and parks throughout Sweden the chance to enjoy this treasure for generations yet to come.

Betula pendula 'Dalecarlica' E™, ornäsbjörk E