OREGON ALDER. 
29 
and paler and often somewhat ferruginous. The veins 
are very strongly marked and prominent beneath, the 
teeth large, but the denticulations minute and glandular 
at the points. Sometimes the leaves are elliptic-ovate, 
the stalks about the third of an inch long. The stipules 
are resinous, and disappear with the evolution of the 
bud. The fruiting ament is roundish-ovoid, and very 
similar to that of the common Alder. 
This species is nearly allied to the White Alder, (A/- 
nus incana ,) but differs sufficiently in its buds, branch- 
lets, stipules, and leaves; in both the fruit is provided, 
as in the Birch, with a translucent membranous wing. 
It appears, likewise, to have a considerable affinity to 
A. acuminata of Humboldt and Bonpland, a tree of Peru, 
discovered by Dombey, but in that species the leaves 
are more lanceolate than ovate and acuminate. 
Besides the other economical uses for which the 
wood of the Alder is employed, the knots furnish a 
beautifully veined wood for cabinets; handsome chairs 
have been made of it, which acquire the colour of ma- 
hogany. In France it is used in making sabots, or 
wooden shoes, and in the north of England it is em- 
ployed for the thick soles of a kind of shoes called 
clogs, and is preferred to these uses in consideration of 
its durability and lightness. The chips, boiled with cop- 
peras, give a black dye to wool; and the leaves have 
been used in tanning; sheep will browse on them and 
on the smaller branches. 
Plate IX. 
A branch of the natural size. a. The seed-vessel. 
