78 
THE COMMON ALDER. 
ALXUS GLUTINOSA. 
-« From out the cavern’ll rock, 
In living rills, a gushing fountain broke; 
Around it and above, for ever green, 
The bushing alders formed a shady scene.” 
The alder loves to make its home “ beside all waters;” 
the clear lake, the sedgy pool, the majestic river, “ the 
crisped brook,” all are alike to it. Wherever there is 
water, there, almost to a certainty, shall we find this 
tree. 
By sylvan connoisseurs the alder is considered the 
most picturesque of the aquatic tribe, except the weeping 
willow. But it is not a mere beautifier of that description 
of scenery to which it chiefly confines itself; it forms 
a strong natural embankment against the encroachments 
of the current; and it is also said, in common with most 
other trees that love the stream, to possess properties 
for correcting the unhealthy air peculiar to such situ¬ 
ations, in a much greater degree than those which grow 
in places of less humidity. 
