78 SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. BETULACE. 
eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains of Washington and southeastern Oregon, southward through 
the California coast ranges, and along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, which it ascends to 
elevations of nearly four thousand feet above the level of the sea, and of the San Bernardino, San 
Jacinto, and Cuayamaca Mountains. 
The wood of Alnus rhombifolia is light, soft, not strong, brittle, and close-grained; it is light 
brown, with thick hghter colored sapwood, which is often nearly white, and contains numerous obscure 
medullary rays. The specific gravity of the absolutely dry wood is 0.4024, a cubic foot weighing 25.06 
pounds. 
Alnus rhombifolia is the common Alder of the valleys of central California, where it is often a 
conspicuous object, especially in winter, when its long golden staminate aments, hanging on slender 
leafless branches, are bathed in the waters of mountain torrents. It is the only species in southern 
California ; and was first distinguished by Thomas Nuttall in 1835 in the neighborhood of Monterey. 
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 
Puiate CCCCLVI. Atnus RHOMBIFOLIA. 
. A flowering branch, natural size. 
A staminate flower, enlarged. 
. Pistillate flowers with their scale, front view, enlarged. 
. A fruiting branch, natural size. 
. Seale of a strobile, front view, with nutlets, enlarged. 
O oP ow bo 
. A sterile branch, natural size. 
