270 .FOREST TREES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 



Sitka Alder. 



Alnus sitchensis (Kegel) Sargent. 



DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS. 



From lack of field knowledge, Sitka alder, a uniquely distinct species still 

 little known to lay people, has remained in comparative obscurity from 1832 

 until recently. Its habitat and range are yet imperfectly known. Its field name 

 is " alder," and it is probably not distinguished by laymen from other alders 

 of its range. 



Fig. 110. — Alnus -sitchensis. 



A slender shrub from 4 to G feet high (in large thickets) or occasionally a tree 

 from 20 to 30 feet high and from 4 to S inches tbrough. Usually crowded in 

 shady places, its crown of nearly straight, horizontal branches is narrow and 

 open. The trunk bark is smooth, thin, and dull gray, with a bluish tinge. 



