HAZEL ALDER 



Alnus rugosa (Du Roi) Sprengel 



The alders are widespread shrubs known to all who welcome the 

 coming of spring. With the exception of the skunkcabbage, their 

 blooms are the earliest forerunners of spring, and almost every swamp 

 and sheltered brook where the sun can penetrate is decorated with 

 numerous bushes, hung with purple and yellow pendent catkins. The 

 pollen, furnished by these in large quantities, is blown by the wind, 

 lighting on the little green or purplish knobs of pistillate flowers, 

 which grow into ripe cones in autumn. Several species of the genus 

 Alnus contain in their bark a coloring principle of value, dyeing either 

 yellow or orange. With copperas added, a good black may be made 

 from it. Before the coming of the white man with his commercial 

 colors, alder dye was frequently used by the Indians. 



There are several species of alder in the United States, the one here 

 represented ranging from Florida to Texas and from Maine to Min- 

 nesota. 



The sketch was made from a specimen gathered near Washington, 

 District of Columbia. 



PLATE 1 6 



