ALDERS 



Al'nus spp. 



B11 

 (2 leaves) 



Immature female (pistillate) flower 

 clusters (aments, or catkins) formed 

 in bud during previous season, opening 

 fully before leaves appear; catkins later 

 developing into woody "cones" 



Leaf buds bright red, slightly hairy, 

 about Yt in. long, blunt at tip 



Mature male (staminate) flower clusters 

 (aments, or catkins) IK to 3 in. long 

 and about }' t in. thick, pendulous, in 

 groups of 3 or 4, fully opening in spring 

 before leaves appear 



Male flower clusters formed in the 

 summer or autumn, naked and erect 

 during winter, up to 1 in. long, light 

 purple, fully expanding in spring 



Leaves alternate, egg-shaped to ob- 

 long, pointed at tip, rounded or heart- 

 shaped or sometimes wedge-shaped at 

 base, doubly toothed on edges, dark 

 green and hairless above, pale green 

 and hairless or slightly hairy below, 2 

 to 4 in. long, prominently veined with 

 the almost parallel main veins running 

 from the midrib to the points of the lobes 



Mature female catkins ("cones") 

 egg-shaped, K to % in. long, woody, 

 persistent; scales thickened, squarish 

 and 3- or 4-lobed at apex 



Fruit (" seeds "y^-small, narrow-thin- 

 bordered nutlets solitary in axil of each 

 "cone" scale 



A. tenuifolia 



