XXXII 
THE ALDER. 
ALDER TREE—Alnus glutinosa (Gaertner).—The glutinous 
or Common Alder belongs to the natural order Betulacew, and 
is considered the most aquatic tree growing in the climate of 
Britain. It is indigenous throughout Europe, and is met with 
commonly on the banks of streams and in swampy situations. 
In its wild state it seldom attains to a greater height than 
thirty or forty feet; but cultivated in good soil, in various 
places throughout Britain and Ireland, it has attained to the 
height of from. sixty to eighty feet, with a trunk three to four 
feet in diameter. It is- generally at full maturity at fifty or 
at most sixty years of age, and, when timber is an object, 
it should then be cut down. The finest trees of the species 
in North Britain stand at Gordon Castle and Huntly Lodge. 
There existed, during the early part of the present century, in 
the parish of Abernethy, in Strathspey, a clump of alders, 
adjoiming part of the native pine forest, containing trees of 
very remarkable dimensions. When I last saw them they 
were in a state of decay, without a sound trunk among them. 
They had lost their tops, and ranged only from twenty to 
thirty feet in height; but six or eight of them had trunks 
ranging from ten to seventeen feet in circumference, dimen- 
sions greater than usual for trees of this species. The largest 
recorded tree in England grows on the right-hand side of the 
road upon entering the village of Haverland, Norfolk. It 
stands in a damp, favourable situation, near to a rivulet, and 
reaches the height of sixty-five feet. The trunk, at one foot 
from the ground, is twelve feet in circumference. The next 
