Alnus incana (L.) Moench

Nomenclature

Taxonomy

Kingdom	Plantae	Browse at kingdom-level
Order	Fagales Engl.	Browse at order-level
Family	Betulaceae Gray	Browse at family-level
Genus	Alnus Mill.	Browse at genus-level
Section
Species	Alnus incana (L.) Moench	Browse at species-level
Subspecies
Variety
Form
Cultivar
Strain

Binomial synonyms

Alnus glutinosa var. incana (L.) Pers. Secondary name Betula alnus var. incana L. Secondary name

Common names

Common name	Language
Gray alder	English
Grey alder	English
Harmaaleppä	Finnish
Aulne	French
Aulne de montagne	French

Genealogy

Genetics

Chromosome pairs	No chromosome pair counts stored.
Parentage background	No parentage background information stored.
Ploidy level	No ploidy level information stored.
Species identifier DNA	No species identifier DNA information stored.

Subspecies

Alnus incana subsp. incana Alnus incana subsp. incana var. argentata Norrl. Alnus incana subsp. kolaënsis (N. I. Orlova) Á. Löve & ex D. Löve

Distribution

No distribution maps for this entry in the database.

Macromorphology

Description

A suckering tree to 20 m; with one or several trunks, which are straight or curved. Leaves are simple and alternate. The female catkins are formed the autumn before flowering. The flowers appear before the leaves, earliers than in Alnus glutinosa. A. incana expands efficiently by suckers, often forming clonal stands.

Growth form

Tree, shrub (sometimes)

Organism part

Bark

Surface: Smooth
Color: Brown, light gray, pale ash-grey, dark gray, reddish
Note: Horizontal lenticels

Stems, twigs, branches

Surface: Densely grey-pubescent, glabrous, not sticky
Color: Red, yellow or grey-brown (current year)
Shape: Angled (pith of twigs)

Leaves, leaflets

Surface: Hairless to sparsely hairy, without papillae (upper surface), glaucous, hairy (lower surface)
Color: Fairly bright green (upper), white-grey downey (lower)
Shape: Narrowly ovate, obovate, orbicular
Leaf division: Simple
Leaf apex: Acute, short-acuminate, obtuse (sometimes), shallowly emarginate (sometimes)
Leaf base: Cuneate
Leaf margins: Doubly serrate (usually), obtuse or acute (+/-) primary teeth
Leaf stipules: Lanceolate, pubescent (+/-)
Leaf permanence: Deciduous

Flowers, inflorescences

Part type: Male catkins (elongate aments), female catkins (2-6 catkins in a straight raceme)
Color: Yellowish brown (male catkins), red (female catkins)
Shape: Slender, small scales at the base (female catkins), pendent, thin (male catkins)

Fruits

Part type: Nut, dry fruit
Shape: Ellipsoid (fruiting catkins), ovoid
Note: Single-seeded

Spores, seeds

Color: Pale brown
Shape: Broadly elliptic (nuts), ovate
Note: Without a resinous coat

Chemicals

1,7-bis-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxyheptane-5-O-β-D-xylopyranoside

1,7-bis-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-heptane-3-one-5-O-β-D-glucopyranoside

1,7-bis-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-heptane-5-O-β-D-glucopyranoside

Oregonin

Platyphylloside

Images

No images for this entry in the database.

Color swatches

This gallery showcases color samples measured from materials dyed with this organism. The materials were dyed with organism parts or whole organism, and no chemical analyses of the colourants present have been performed. Materials and mordants are reported where applicable. This gallery only showcases what colors one might be able to achieve from dyeing with this organism.

Grey alder (bark) (1)

Natural white wool2 , alum 12%, cream of tartar 5%

Details

Grey alder (bark) (2)