940 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



Sweden, Norway, Russia, Denmark, Bosnia, and Montenegro. These hybrids are 

 intermediate in the characters of the leaves and fruit ; and so far as we know, are not 

 in cultivation in England. 



A hybrid^ between A. glutinosa and A. serrulata has also arisen in cultivation 



in Silesia and Brandenburg. 



Distribution 



The common alder is distributed through neariy the whole of Europe, Siberia, 

 Western Asia, and North Africa. In Europe, its northerly limit extends from lat. 

 63° 52' in southern Norway at Anderoen, to lat, 63° 20' on the west side of the Gulf 

 of Bothnia in Sweden, reaching Uleaborg in Finland in lat. 65°, where, however, it 

 only exists as a shrub, and is continued through the interior of Finland and Russia 

 along the parallel of 62°. In Siberia, its distribution is not accurately known ; but it 

 occurs in the Ural and Altai mountains, and in the district around Lake Baikal. Its 

 southern limit, commencing in the province of Talysch in the Caucasus, between 39° 

 and 40° lat,, extends through Asia Minor and Greece to Sicily, where it reaches at 

 Catania, lat, 37° 25', its most southerly point in Europe. It occurs in Spain and 

 Portugal, as far south as the Sierra Morena, about lat, 38°. It is also distributed 

 through the mountains of Algeria and Morocco. A variety,^ recorded for Japan, is 

 probably a distinct species. 



According to Sir Herbert Maxwell* the Anglo-Saxon name for alder was a/r, 

 in Norse olr (now, according to Schiibeler, aar, older, and or) ; and the Gaelic name 

 /earn, the names surviving in place names such as Allerton, Allerbeck, Ellerslie, 

 Balfern, Farnie, Glenfarne. 



It is generally distributed throughout the British Isles, growing usually on 

 river banks, along the sides of lakes, and in wet or marshy places ; and ascends in 

 the Grampians to 1600 feet. 



It is common throughout France, in similar situations, and ascends to 5700 

 feet in the Pyrenees. Although most usual on siliceous soils, it grows on chalk in 

 Champagne; and in Germany, has been shown to be indifferent to the mineral 

 constituents of the soil, provided a sufficient quantity of moisture is present. It is 

 met with as pure woods, on peat-bogs and marshy places, in north Germany, in the 

 Baltic provinces and Lithuania in Russia, and also in Hungary ; but more usually is 

 mixed with birch and aspen, and more rarely grows in company with other hard- 

 woods. It ascends in the mountains of Norway to 1 100 feet, in the Central Alps 

 in Switzerland to 3200 feet, and in the Carpathians to 3800 feet. The 

 alder is susceptible to late frosts and is injured by cold dry winds, and on this 

 account thrives best in the colder parts of Europe on slopes with a westerly 

 aspect. 



It is naturalised in various localities in the eastern United States, particulariy in 

 southern New York and in New Jersey. It succeeds well in North America, when 



' A. glutinosa X serrulata ; A. silesiaca, Fiek. Cf. Schneider, loc. cit. 



2 Var. japonica, Matsumura, >«?72. Coll. Set. Tokyo, xvi. 2, p. 9 (1902). 



' Green's Encyclopedia of Agriculture, i. 62. 



