V. 2. THE SPECKLED ALDER. 221 



the leaves. The branchlets, at the time of flowering, are de- 

 pendent, and the long, pendulous, sterile catkins are thus ter- 

 minal, while the ovate fertile ones are on shorter, lateral foot- 

 stalks just above. This is the reverse of the arrangement of 

 the catkins in the common alder, in which the fertile aments, 

 being erect, seem terminal, while the sterile ones bend down. 

 The sterile aments are from one to three inches long, of an 

 orange and brown color, more slender and tapering than those 

 of the common alder. The fertile aments are cylindrical, 

 smaller than those of the common, and pointing downwards. 



This alder is found in the same situations and soil as the 

 common, and seems to have similar properties. 



A striking and very beautiful variety of the speckled alder, 

 called the glaucous alder by the younger Michaux, is distin- 

 guished by the pale blue or glaucous color of the lower surface 

 of the leaves. The pubescence is less abundant, but the veins 

 and footstalk are often, as in the common form of the tree, of a 

 rusty color. Michaux says that the glaucous alder sometimes 

 becomes a tree of eighteen or twenty feet in height. He con- 

 siders it a distinct species and the most beautiful of the alders. 



There is a variety intermediate between the common and the 

 glaucous alder, and more near to the latter. The leaves are 

 oblong, doubly serrate, and distinctly pointed, rounded or acute . 

 at base, the veins slightly hairy or smooth, and the axils hairy. 

 The young branches are brownish. It differs from the com- 

 mon alder in its leaves being always acute and never obovate, 

 and from the speckled, in having its leaves shining and free 

 from down. The leaves vary extremely in their proportions, 

 being sometimes three or four inches long, and one and a half 

 inches broad, tapering at both extremities ; and sometimes four 

 or four and a half inches long and three and a half broad. 

 They are thinner and less leathery than those of the others. 

 The fertile aments are on much branched footstalks, often as 

 many as twelve together. 



The general aspect of this alder is similar to that of the 

 speckled alder, differing in the greenness of the under surface 

 of the leaves. It grows in similar situations, and is often ten or 

 twelve feet high. 



