Alnus rhombifolia

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White alder
Alnus rhombifolia NPS.jpg
Foliage and fruit
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Betulaceae
Genus: Alnus
Subgenus: Alnus subg. Alnus
Species:
A. rhombifolia
Binomial name
Alnus rhombifolia
Alnus rhombifolia range map 1.png
Natural range of Alnus rhombifolia

Alnus rhombifolia, the white alder, is an alder tree native to western North America, from British Columbia and Washington east to western Montana, southeast to the Sierra Nevada, and south through the Peninsular Ranges and Colorado Desert oases in Southern California. [2] It occurs in riparian zone habitats at an altitudes range of 100–2,400 metres (330–7,870 ft). [3] [4] While not reported in northern Baja California, it has been predicted on the basis of its climatic adaptation to occur there also. [3] Alnus rhombifolia is primarily found in the chaparral and woodlands, montane, and temperate forests ecoregions. [2]

Contents

Description

Alnus rhombifolia is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 15–25 metres (49–82 ft) (rarely to 35 metres (115 ft)) tall, with pale gray bark, smooth on young trees, becoming scaly on old trees. The leaves are alternate, rhombic to narrow elliptic, 4–10 centimetres (1.6–3.9 in) long and 2–5 centimetres (0.79–1.97 in) broad, with a finely serrated margin and a rounded to acute apex; they are thinly hairy below. [5]

The flowers are produced in catkins. The male catkins are pendulous, slender, 3–10 centimetres (1.2–3.9 in) long, yellowish, and produced in clusters of two to seven; pollination is in early spring, before the leaves emerge. The female catkins are ovoid, when mature in autumn 10–22 millimetres (0.39–0.87 in) long and 7–10 millimetres (0.28–0.39 in) broad, on a 1–10 millimetres (0.039–0.394 in) stem, superficially resembling a small conifer cone. [5] The small winged seeds disperse through the winter, leaving the old woody, blackish 'cones' on the tree for up to a year after. [2] [3] [6]

The white alder is closely related to the red alder (Alnus rubra), differing in the leaf margins being flat, not curled under. Like other alders, it is able to fix nitrogen, and tolerates infertile soils. [6]

Medicinal use

Some Plateau Indian tribes use white alder for female health treatment needs. [7]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Alnus glutinosa</i> Species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae

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<i>Alnus rubra</i> Species of tree

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<i>Pinus muricata</i> Species of conifer

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<i>Quercus wislizeni</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus wislizeni, known by the common name interior live oak, is an evergreen oak, highly variable and often shrubby, found in many areas of California in the United States continuing south into northern Baja California in Mexico. It generally occurs in foothills, being most abundant in the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada, but also widespread in the Pacific Coast Ranges—where since 1980 it has been known as a separate species Quercus parvula—and the San Gabriel Mountains. It was named for its collector, Friedrich Adolph Wislizenus (1810–1889).

<i>Pinus cembra</i> Species of plant

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<i>Alnus incana</i> Species of tree

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<i>Pinus cembroides</i> Species of conifer

Pinus cembroides, also known as pinyon pine, Mexican pinyon, Mexican nut pine, and Mexican stone pine, is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to western North America. It grows in areas with low levels of rainfall and its range extends southwards from Arizona, Texas and New Mexico in the United States into Mexico. It typically grows at altitudes between 1,600 and 2,400 metres. It is a small pine growing to about 20 m (66 ft) with a trunk diameter of up to 50 cm (20 in). The seeds are large and form part of the diet of the Mexican jay and Abert's squirrel. They are also collected for human consumption, being the most widely used pine nut in Mexico. This is a common pine with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

<i>Alnus cordata</i> Species of plant

Alnus cordata, the Italian alder, is a tree or shrub species belonging to the family Betulaceae, and native to the southern Apennine Mountains and the north-eastern mountains of Corsica. It has been introduced in Sicily, Sardinia, and more recently in Central-Northern Italy, other European countries and extra-European countries, where it has become naturalised.

<i>Cupressus bakeri</i> Species of conifer

Cupressus bakeri, reclassified as Hesperocyparis bakeri, with the common names Baker cypress, Modoc cypress, or Siskiyou cypress, is a rare species of cypress tree endemic to a small area across far northern California and extreme southwestern Oregon, in the western United States.

<i>Abies firma</i> Species of conifer

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<i>Salix lasiolepis</i> Species of willow

Salix lasiolepis is a species of willow native to western North America.

<i>Alnus acuminata</i> Species of tree

Alnus acuminata is a species of deciduous tree in the Betulaceae family. It is found in montane forests from central Mexico to Argentina.

<i>Frangula alnus</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae

Frangula alnus, commonly known as alder buckthorn, glossy buckthorn, or breaking buckthorn, is a tall deciduous shrub in the family Rhamnaceae. Unlike other "buckthorns", alder buckthorn does not have thorns. It is native to Europe, northernmost Africa, and western Asia, from Ireland and Great Britain north to the 68th parallel in Scandinavia, east to central Siberia and Xinjiang in western China, and south to northern Morocco, Turkey, and the Alborz in Iran and the Caucasus Mountains; in the northwest of its range, it is rare and scattered. It is also introduced and naturalised in eastern North America.

Coreopsis hamiltonii, the Mt. Hamilton coreopsis, is a rare California species of Coreopsis in the family Asteraceae. It is found only in a small region including Mount Hamilton and the Diablo Range in the southwestern San Francisco Bay Area.

<i>Calochortus simulans</i> Species of flowering plant

Calochortus simulans is a California species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name San Luis Obispo mariposa lily, not to be confused with the San Luis mariposa lily C. obispoensis.

<i>Cirsium douglasii</i> Species of thistle

Cirsium douglasii is a species of thistle known by the common names Douglas' thistle and California swamp thistle.

<i>Ribes californicum</i> Species of flowering plant

Ribes californicum, with the common name hillside gooseberry, is a North American species of currant. It is endemic to California, where it can be found throughout many of the California Coast, Transverse, and Peninsular Ranges in local habitat types such as chaparral and woodlands.

<i>Alnus serrulata</i> Species of tree

Alnus serrulata, the hazel alder or smooth alder, is a thicket-forming shrub in the family Betulaceae. It is native to eastern North America and can be found from western Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick south to Florida and Texas.

<i>Alnus alnobetula</i> Species of tree

Alnus alnobetula is a common tree widespread across much of Europe, Asia, and North America. Many sources refer to it as Alnus viridis, the green alder, but botanically this is considered an illegitimate name synonymous with Alnus alnobetula subsp. fruticosa.

References

  1. Stritch, L. (2014). "Alnus rhombifolia". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . IUCN. 208. e.T194648A2355642. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T194648A2355642.en .
  2. 1 2 3 "UC/JEPS: Jepson Manual treatment for ALNUS rhombifolia". ucjeps.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  3. 1 2 3 Flora of North America: Alnus rhombifolia
  4. "Alnus rhombifolia". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  5. 1 2 http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-lifeform=any&rel-taxon=contains&where-taxon=Alnus+rhombifolia&rel-namesoup=matchphrase&where-namesoup=&rel-location=matchphrase&where-location=&rel-county=eq&where-county=any&rel-state=eq&where-state=any&rel-country=eq&where-country=any&where-collectn=any&rel-photographer=contains&where-photographer=&rel-kwid=equals&where-kwid=&max_rows=24 calphoto . accessed 9/29/2010
  6. 1 2 Oregon State University: Alnus rhombifolia
  7. Hunn, Eugene S. (1990). Nch'i-Wana, "The Big River": Mid-Columbia Indians and Their Land. University of Washington Press. p. 351. ISBN   0-295-97119-3.