Red Alder. Alnus rubra. 
Leaves green above, pale beneath, with rusty hairs 
along the veins, 3 to 5 inches long. Male and female 
flowers borne on the same branch, usually partly ma- 
tured the summer before they open. Male clusters 5 
to 6 inches long at the end of the brancldet; female 
flowers smaller and farther down on the branch, devel- 
oping into woody cones which mature and scatter seed 
in late fall and early spring. The trunk is straight 
with ashy bark splotched white in places. Spring twigs 
are dark with light dots. Buds, dark red, covered 
with scaly down. 
Red alder is used for furniture, shoe lasts, etc., in 
the States, but has little economic use in Alaska. The 
Indians use it in smoking meat and fish, and for wood 
carving. 
This common alder is found throughout southeastern 
Alaska on stream bottoms with rich, rocky, and moist 
soils. Common along beaches where creeks enter the 
sea. It reaches a height of 35 to 40 feet and a diameter 
of 12 inches. 
Oregon Crab Apple. Mains rirularis. 
The leaves are arranged singly, never in pairs, are 
thick, smooth, and shiny green on top, lighter beneath 
and sometimes slightly hairy. Twigs are stiff and al- 
most thorny. The bark is red gray, thin, and scaly. 
Young twigs are red and shiny. Fruit a typical, but 
small and rather acid apple. Wood, light brown, fine- 
grained, and suitable for tool handles when the tree is 
not too stunted to be of economic use. 
The crab apple is scattered on low slopes, river 
bottoms, and heavy wet soils, along the Alaska coast 
from the Aleutians southward. It is a slow-growing 
tree seldom over 20 feet high, and is usually a shrub 
forming dense thickets. 
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