This beautiful birch tree has a slender form similar to that of other birch trees, but its leaves are larger and more substantial. Its leaves turn a bright yellow color in the autumn season. Betula platyphylla var. japonica has very white bark that extends all the way down to the ground, even as it ages. Its leaves are also resistant to rust. Betula platyphylla is deciduous and native to subarctic and temperate Asia in Japan, China, Korea, Mongolia, and the Russian Far East and Siberia. Learn more about Betula platyphylla.