Alnus cordata

Alnus cordata ITALIAN ALDER

Higher Taxonomy

Family: Betulaceae

Common Name: BIRCH FAMILY
Habit: Shrub, tree; monoecious. Stem: trunk < 35 m; bark smooth to scaly, peeling in thin layers or not, lenticels present or not. Leaf: simple, alternate, petioled, deciduous; stipules deciduous; blade ovate to elliptic, generally serrate, generally +- doubly so. Inflorescence: catkin, generally appearing before leaves, often clustered; bracts each subtending 2--3 flowers, 3--6 bractlets. Staminate Inflorescence: pendent, +- elongate. Pistillate Inflorescence: pendent or erect, developing variously in fruit (see key to genera). Staminate Flower: sepals 0--4, minute; petals 0; stamens 1--10; pistil vestigial or 0. Pistillate Flower: sepals 0--4; petals 0; stamens 0; pistil 1, ovary inferior or superior, chambers 2, each 1-ovuled by abortion, stigmas 2. Fruit: achene, nut, winged or not, subtended or enclosed by 1--2 bracts.
Genera In Family: 6 genera, 155 species: generally northern hemisphere; some cultivated.
eFlora Treatment Author: John O. Sawyer, Jr.
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.

Genus: Alnus

View Description

Dichotomous Key

Common Name: ALDER
Stem: trunk < 35 m; bark smooth, gray to brown; twigs glabrous to fine-hairy, red-gray; lenticels small; winter buds stalked, 0--6-scaled. Leaf: glabrous to fine-hairy; blade 3--15 cm, cordate to elliptic or diamond-shaped. Staminate Inflorescence: 5--20 cm; bracts each subtending 3 flowers, 4 bractlets. Pistillate Inflorescence: 5--20 mm; bracts each subtending 2 flowers, 4 fused bractlets. Staminate Flower: sepals 4; stamens 1--4. Pistillate Flower: sepals 0. Fruit: many, in cone-like catkin, not enclosed by bract, winged, bracts 3 mm, woody, persistent.
Etymology: (Latin: alder) Note: Root nodules contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria; wood used for interior finishing, to smoke fish, meats.

Alnus cordata (Loisel.) Duby

WAIF
Habit: Tree. Stem: trunks > 9 m. Leaf: blade base cordate to truncate, tip obtuse to short-acuminate, margin +- flat, crenate-dentate, generally +- glabrous or abaxially with tufts of hairs in vein axils.
Ecology: Garden escape; Elevation: < 310 m. Bioregional Distribution: NCoRO (Spring Lake Park, Santa Rosa); Distribution Outside California: native to Italy, Corsica. Flowering Time: Oct--Nov(in Italy) Note: Author citation uncertain; see ICPN.
Jepson eFlora Author: John O. Sawyer, Jr.
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

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Citation for this treatment: John O. Sawyer, Jr. 2012, Alnus cordata, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=82048, accessed on April 22, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 22, 2024.

No expert verified images found for Alnus cordata.

Geographic subdivisions for Alnus cordata: NCoRO (Spring Lake Park, Santa Rosa)	MAP CONTROLS 1. You can change the display of the base map layer control box in the upper right-hand corner. 2. County and Jepson Region polygons can be turned off and on using the check boxes.

(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).	Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. MAP LEGEND View all CCH records All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window. Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location. Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues. READ ABOUT YELLOW FLAGS CCH collections by month Duplicates counted once; synonyms included. Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA. Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).