Green Alder

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Green Alder

Alnus viridis (Green Alder) is an alder

Alder

Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of Plant sexuality trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the New World also along the Andes southwards to Argentina....
with a wide range across the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
.

s a large shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
or small tree

TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
3-12 m tall with smooth grey bark even in old age. The leaves

Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
are shiny green, ovoid, 3-8 cm long and 2-6 cm broad. The flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are catkin

Catkin

A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster, with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollination but sometimes insect pollinated ....
s, appearing late in spring after the leaves emerge (unlike other alders which flower before leafing out); the male catkins are pendulous, 4-8 cm long, the female catkins 1 cm long and 0.7 cm broad when mature in late autumn, in clusters of 3-10 on a branched stem.

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Encyclopedia

Alnus viridis (Green Alder) is an alder

Alder

Northern Hemisphere

Description

It is a large shrub

Shrub

TREE

Leaf

Flower

Catkin

Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
s are small, 1-2 mm long, light brown with a narrow encircling wing.

Distribution

There are four to six subspecies

Subspecies

In biology, subspecies is the taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a species. A subspecies is a taxonomic group which is less distinct than the Common descent or species from which it originates....
, some treated as separate species by some authors:

Alnus viridis subsp. viridis. Central Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
.
Alnus viridis subsp. suaveolens. Corsica
Corsica

Corsica is the Mediterranean islands#By area in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located west of Italy, southeast of the France mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
(endemic).
Alnus viridis subsp. fruticosa. Northeast Europe, northern Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, northwestern North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
.
Alnus viridis subsp. maximowiczii (A. maximowiczii). Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
.
Alnus viridis subsp. crispa (A. crispa, Mountain Alder). Northeastern North America, Greenland
Greenland

Greenland is a member country of the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago....
.
Alnus viridis subsp. sinuata (A. sinuata, Sitka Alder or Slide Alder). Western North America, far northeastern Siberia.

Ecology

A. viridis has a shallow root system, and is marked not only by vigorous production of stump suckers, but also by root suckers.

A. viridis is a light-demanding, fast-growing shrub that grows well on poorer soils. In many areas, it is a highly characteristic colonist of avalanche

Avalanche

An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, from either natural triggers or human activity. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the descending snow....
chutes in mountain

Mountain

A mountain is a landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill....
s, where potentially competing larger trees are killed by regular avalanche damage. A. viridis survives the avalanches through its ability to re-grow from the roots and broken stumps. Unlike some other alders, it does not require moist soil, and is a colonist of scree

Scree

Scree, also called talus, is a term given to an accumulation of broken Rock fragments at the base of crags, mountain cliffs, or valley shoulders....
s and shallow stony slopes. It also commonly grows on subarctic river gravels, particularly in northern Siberia

Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
and Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, occupying areas similarly disrupted by ice floes during spring river ice breakup; in this habitat it commonly occurs mixed with shrubby willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
s.

Uses

It is sometimes used for afforestation

Forestry

Forestry is the art and science of managing forests, tree plantations, and related natural resources. Silviculture, a related science, involves the growing and tending of trees and forests....
on infertile soils which it enriches by means of its nitrogen-fixing

Nitrogen fixation

Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen is taken from its relatively inert molecular form in the Earth's atmosphere and converted into nitrogen compounds ....
nodules, while not growing large enough to compete with the intended timber crop. A. sinuata can add 55 lbs of nitrogen per acre per year to the soil.