Taxonomy
Family: Betulaceae
Habitat
Moist thickets and other wet areas.
Associates
Distribution
Nova Scotia and southern Quebec to northern FL, west to northern IN, southern IL, MO, OK, and western TX.
Morphology
Deciduous colonial shrub or small tree; twigs dark gray with few or no white lenticels; leaves elliptic to obovate, often broadest above the middle, obtuse to rounded, serrate with very fine, sharp, nearly regular teeth, obtuse to cuneate at the base, green and glabrous on the underside or thinly pubescent on the veins; staminate catkins mature before leaves emerge; fruiting catkins short, mostly sessile or on short peduncles.
Notes
Flowers March to April
Wetland Indicator: Obligate
Similar to Alnus incana ssp. rugosa but with leaves mostly serrulate (vs. doubly serrate).
References
Gleason, Henry A.
and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States
and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
© Michael Hough 2018 |