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Birch is a thinleaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (),〔''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607〕 in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams, and is closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 to 60 known taxa of which 11 are on the IUCN 2011 Green List of Threatened Species. They are typically rather short-lived pioneer species widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in northern temperate and boreal climates.〔Ashburner, K. & McAllister, H.A. (2013). The genus ''Betula'': a taxonomic revision of birches: 1-431. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.〕 ==Etymology== The common name ''birch'' comes from Old English ''birce'', ''bierce'', from Proto-Germanic *''berk-jōn'' (cf. German ''Birke'', West Frisian ''bjirk''), an adjectival formation from *''berkōn'' (cf. Dutch ''berk'', Low German ''Bark'', Danish ''birk'', Norwegian ''bjørk''), itself from the Proto-Indo-European root *''bʰerHǵ-'' ~ ''bʰrHǵ''-, which also gave Lithuanian ''béržas'', Latvian ''Bērzs'', Russian ''beréza'', Ukrainian ''beréza'', Albanian ''bredh'' ‘fir’, Ossetian ''bærz(æ)'', Sanskrit ''bhurja'', Polish ''brzoza'', Latin ''fraxinus'' ‘ash (tree)’. This root is presumably derived from *''bʰreh₁ǵ-'' ‘to shine’, in reference to the birch's white bark. The Proto-Germanic rune ''berkanan'' is named after the birch. The generic name ''betula'' is from Latin, which is a diminutive borrowed from Gaulish ''betua'' (cf. Old Irish ''bethe'', Welsh ''bedw''). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「birch」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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