Bit 

 (leaf 2) 



The alders propagate profusely by underground rhizomes or suck- 

 ers as well as by seed. The roots, like those of the legumes, often 

 bear nodules of nitrogen-fixing bacteria and it would seem possible 

 that this would be reflected in a relatively high protein content of 

 the herbage, although this is a matter that needs investigation. 



Red alder (A. ru'bra) is the only western alder of much com- 

 mercial value for lumber. The other species are of distinctly minor 

 importance in the production of wood products; they are too small 

 for any purpose except fuel, for which all species are commonly 

 used. They are often a valuable understory in the forest, on ac- 

 count of the protection they afford to the headwaters and lower 

 courses of mountain streams and springy slopes. A number of Eu- 

 ropean, Asiatic and, to a limited extent, several American species 

 are used in this country and abroad as ornamentals. 



Mountain alder (A. tenuifo'lia) is distributed from Alaska and 

 Yukon Territory to New Mexico and Lower California. It is the 

 most widely distributed and one of the most important of the 7 or 8 

 species of alder occurring on the western ranges, and is the most 

 common alder of the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevadas, and the east 

 side of the Cascades. This shrub or small tree is usually 6 to 15 

 feet high, but occasionally 30 feet tall and 6 to 8 inches in diameter. 

 It is of only secondary importance as a forage plant, being typical 

 of most of the western alders in palatability for livestock. 



Red alder (A. ru'bra, syn. A. orego'na) often called Oregon alder, 

 is one of the largest of the Pacific coast hardwoods, and from the 

 standpoint of timber production is one of the most important alders 

 in the United States. In fact, it is the leading hardwood of the 

 Pacific coast. 2 It is usually 35 to 40 feet high and from 10 to 15 

 inches in diameter, but on the best sites it reaches a height of from 

 60 to 90 feet with the trunk iy 2 to 3 feet, or more, in diameter. The 

 stems are straight with thin, smooth-looking, light ashy-gray or 

 whitish bark and, in mature trees, are clear of branches for one-half 

 to two-thirds their length. The roughly toothed, egg-shaped to 

 elliptic leaves are about 3 to 5 inches long, or up to 10 inches long on 

 strong shoots, dark green on the upper surface, but lighter colored 

 and coated with very short, rust-colored hairs below. The wood is 

 light, soft, brittle, and close-grained, being used chiefly for furniture 

 and for smoking salmon. 



Red alder ranges from southeastern Alaska southward in the 

 coastal region to southern California. It grows chiefly along streams 

 and in rich, moist bottomlands, but also inhabits springy hillsides and 

 upland swamps. In the Douglas-fir region, red alder is often con- 

 spicuous in the shrub stage of plant succession on cut-over and 

 burned-over timberlands. It is especially common on moist sites, 



2 Johnson, H. M., Hanzlik, E. J., and Gibbons, W. H. RED ALDER OF THE PACIFIC NORTH- 

 WEST, ITS UTILIZATION, WITH NOTES ON GROWTH AND MANAGEMENT. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 



1437, 46 pp., illus. 1926. 



