ALNUS 181 



Var. SlEBOLDlANA, Winkler (A. Sieboldiana, Matsumura\ This, which is 

 not in cultivation, has smooth young shoots, and large solitary fruits I in. long. 



A. GLUTINOSA, Gaertner. COMMON ALDR. 



A tree 50 to 90 ft. in height, with a trunk 5 to 12 ft. in girth, of narrow, 

 pyramidal habit ; young shoots covered with minute glands, glutinous, not 

 downy. Leaves broadly obovate, sometimes almost round, the base always 

 more or less tapered, the apex rounded, and thus giving the leaf a pear-shaped 

 outline ; l to 4 ins. long, two -thirds to about as much wide ; irregularly toothed 

 except near the base ; dark lustrous green, smooth and glutinous above ; pale 

 green and with tufts of down in the vein-axils beneath ; veins in six to eight pairs ; 

 stalk \t to i in. long. Male catkins opening in March, usually three to five 

 together, each 2 to 4 ins. long. Fruit egg-shaped, to in. long, rather 

 numerous in the cluster. 



Native of Europe (including Britain), W. Asia, and N. Africa. The 

 common alder has not much to recommend its being brought into the garden. 

 It is abundant in a wild state, and the genus can be more effectively represented 

 in gardens by selected varieties and such species as A. cordifolia and A. nitida. 

 It is, at the same time, a very useful tree for planting in boggy places where 

 few trees would thrive. The timber is chiefly employed in the manufacture of 

 the clogs so commonly used in the Lancashire mill towns. An ancient and 

 humble, but honourable form of woodcraft is carried on where alders abound, 

 especially in the north, by men who travel from place to place, purchase the 

 alder trees standing, fell them, then cut up the timber and roughly shape it on 

 the spot for clog-making. But, some years ago, in the south-west of Scotland, 

 I was told by one of these itinerant workers, that the supply of alder scarcely 

 kept pace with the demand, and that birch was now largely being used. 



Var. AUREA, Dippel. Leaves golden yellow. Raised in Vervaene's 

 nursery, Ledeberg-les-Gand, about 1860. Not so vigorous as the type. 



Var. IMPERIALIS, Petzold. Leaves deeply and pinnately lobed, the lobes 

 lanceolate, slender, pointed, not toothed, reaching more than half-way to the 

 midrib ; stalks I to i^ ins. long. Often a thin, rather ungainly tree, never of 

 great size. 



Var. INCISA, Willdenow (var. oxyacanthsefolia, Loddiges). Thorn-leaved 

 Alder. A curious and interesting form, the leaves being small, usually less 

 than i in. long, reflexed, deeply cut into several broad, toothed lobes, or even 

 right to the midrib at the base. As a rule this grows slowly, and long remains 

 a dwarf, compact bush ; but Messrs Elwes and Henry mention one at Barton, 

 near Bury St Edmunds, 44 ft. high and 2 ft. 8 ins. in girth. 



Var. LACINIATA, Willdenow. Similar to imperialis, but not so deeply 

 and narrdwly lobed ; lobes not topthed. There is a fine specimen at Syon, 

 mentioned by Loudon over seventy years ago, now over 70 ft. high, and 1 1 ft. 

 in girth. 



Var. PYRAMID ALIS, Dippel. Branches erect. 



Var. QUERCIFOLIA, Willdenow. Upper part of the leaf with triangular, 

 toothed lobes, the deepest not. reaching more than one-third of the way to 

 the midrib. 



Var. RUBRINERVIA, Dippel. Leaves with red veins and stalks. 



Var. SORBIFOLIA, Dippel. Leaves oblong or oval, deeply cut into about six 

 pairs of lobes, which are oblong and coarsely round-toothed, the sinuses often 

 widest at the base. One of the most distinct of the cut-leaved sorts. The tree 

 itself is not a strong grower, and is of rather lax habit. 



A. PUBESCENS, Tausch, is a hybrid between A. glutinosa and A. incana, 

 with leaves oval, obovate or ovate, rounded or tapering at the base, and 

 pointed or blunt at the apex ; margins doubly toothed ; the upper surface is at 

 first downy, the lower one permanently and more downy. Flower-stalks and 



