Erman's birch is a deciduous tree native to the cool mountains of East Asia. Its gray-white bark peels in thin sheets, and its broad leaves have uneven, pointed teeth along the edges.
Paper birch has clean white bark and hanging fruit clusters. Erman’s birch often has gray or cream bark that peels in broad sheets; its fruit clusters may point up, but that feature varies.
Why they get mixed upBoth can have pale, peeling bark in U.S. tree collections.