Betula utilis to overuse of the tree for firewood. "Betula utilis" was described and named by botanist David Don in his "Prodromus Florae Nepalensis" (1825), from specimens collected by Nathaniel Wallich in Nepal in 1820. "Betula jacquemontii" (Spach), first described and named in 1841, was later found to be a variety of "B. utilis", and is now "Betula utilis" var. "jacquemontii". In its native habitat, "B. utilis" tends to form forests, growing as a shrub or tree reaching up to tall. It frequently grows among scattered conifers, with an undergrowth of shrubs that typically includes evergreen "Rhododendron". The tree depends on moisture
Beech bark disease to spread to the south and west. The first case of beech bark disease in the United States was reported in 1929 in Massachusetts. By 2004, the disease had spread as far west as Michigan and as far south as western North Carolina. For beech bark disease to occur, two components are required, an insect and a fungus. The beech scale insect, "Cryptococcus fagisuga", is invasive to North America and is host-specific, feeding exclusively on beech trees. It can be observed on the trunk and limbs of the tree as woolly, white tufts that will later develop into broad strips.