Alnus viridis (Chaix) DC.

Green alder, mountain alder, Sitka alder, Siberian alder

Alders are small to medium in size, often with multiple trunks and branches. Green alders rarely exceed 15′ (4.6 m) in height, about haf the size of other alders, a woody shrub rather than a tree. These fast-growing shrubs are often found beside wet areas. They are also common on mountains, especially in avalanche-prone regions, where their ability to regrow from damaged stumps allows them to out-compete other trees.

See Alnus for a comparison table.

Plants: Small trees 9½–39′ (3–12 m) in height, with mulitple trunks and smooth, gray bark. Green alders have lenticels—white or light gray patches, that are roughly diamond-shaped.

Leaves: Alternate, egg-shaped to elliptic, with pointed or rounded tips. They are dark green on top, shiny green below, with finely toothed edges, and 1–3 ⨉ ¾–2″ (3–8 ⨉ 2–6 cm) in size.

Flowers: Male and female flowers appear on the same tree. Male catkins are 1¼–3½″ (3.2–8.9 cm) long, hanging in groups of two to four. Female catkins are erect (upward-pointing), red, roughly cylindrical, and up to ¼″ (8.5 mm) tall. They appear on the same branches as male catkins, in groups of 2-10. Flowers appear in late summer.

Fruits: Oval to egg-shaped small “cones” about ¾″ (1.9 cm) long, green, turning brown, with winged nutlets ⅛″ (3.2 mm) long.

Habitats: Alpine or subalpine zones, forest edges, meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes, swamps, talus and rocky slopes, wetland margins.

Online References:

References:

 

Alnus viridis description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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