Grey Alder

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Grey Alder

Alnus incana (Grey or Speckled Alder) is a species of 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....
. It is a small to medium size 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....
15-20 m tall with smooth grey bark even in old age, its life span being a maximum of 60-100 years. 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 matt green, ovoid, 5-11 cm long and 4-8 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 early in spring before the leaves emerge, the male catkins pendulous and 5-10 cm long, the female catkins 1.5 cm long and one cm broad when mature in late autumn.

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Encyclopedia

Alnus incana (Grey or Speckled Alder) is a species of alder

Alder

Northern Hemisphere

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, and light brown with a narrow encircling wing. The Grey Alder has a shallow root system, and is marked not only by vigorous production of stump suckers, but also by root suckers, especially in the northern parts of its range. The wood resembles that of the black alder, but is somewhat paler and of little value.

Subspecies

There are four to six subspecies, some treated as separate species by some authors:

Alnus incana subsp. incana (Grey Alder). Northern 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....
and northwestern 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....
, and central and southern Europe in mountains, mainly in the regions of the Alps
Alps

The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
, Carpathians
Carpathian Mountains

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc of roughly 1,500 km across Central Europe and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe....
and the Caucasus
Caucasus

The Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region located between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It is home to Europe's highest mountain ....
.
Alnus incana subsp. hirsuta (Spach) Á. & D.Löve (=A. hirsuta Spach; Manchurian Alder). Northeastern 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....
, and central Asia in mountains.
Alnus incana subsp. kolaensis (N.I.Orlova) Á. & D.Löve. Subarctic northeast Europe.
Alnus incana subsp. oblongifolia (=A. oblongifolia; Arizona Alder). Southwestern 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 incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen (=A. rugosa Du Roi; Speckled Alder). Northeastern 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 incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung (=A. tenuifolia Nutt.; Thinleaf Alder or Mountain Alder). 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....
and 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....
.

Ecology

Alnus incana is a light-demanding, fast-growing tree that grows well on poorer soils. In central Europe, it is a colonist of alluvial land alongside mountain brooks and streams, occurring at elevations up to 1500 metres. However, it does not require moist soil, and will also colonize screes and shallow stony slopes. In the northern part of its range, it is a common tree species at sea level in forests, abandoned fields and on lakeshores. It is sometimes used for afforestation

Afforestation

Afforestation is the process of establishing a forest on land that is not a forest, or has not been a forest for a long time by planting trees or their seeds....
on non-fertile soils which it enriches by means of 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 ....
bacteria in its root nodules. Several species of Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
use Grey Alder as a food plant for their caterpillar

Caterpillar

Caterpillars are the larval form of a member of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly phytophagous in food habit, with some species being entomophagous....
s. See List of Lepidoptera that feed on alders. In the Boreal forest area of Canada, A. incana is often associated with Black Spruce

Black Spruce

Picea mariana is a species of spruce native to northern North America, from Newfoundland west to Alaska, and south to northern New York, Minnesota and central British Columbia....
in the forest type termed Black Spruce/Speckled Alder.

Line notes

Gallery

Alnus incana subsp. incana

Alnus incana subsp. rugosa

Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia