Speckled alder

Leaves

Form

• Oval, thick-textured, not sticky
• Upper surface wrinkled, veins deeply impressed
• Lower surface hairy, prominent veins
• Veinlets forming a ladder-like pattern
• Considerable leaf-fall during the summer

Length

• 5–10 cm

Colour

• Upper surface dull green
• Veins on lower surface brownish-red

Margin

• Double-toothed

Buds

Form

• Blunt, stalked, with 2 or 3 scales that meet along their edges
• Arranged in 3 ranks along the twig

Colour

• Dark reddish-brown

Twigs

Form

• Moderately slender

Colour

• Brown

Flowers

Form

• Immature seed catkins visible in winter

Length

• Pollen catkins 1–2.5 cm in winter, 5–8 cm at pollination
• Immature seed catkins 2–5 mm

Structure

• Monoecious

Fruits

Form

• Mature seed catkins ovoid to globular, short-stalked
• In pendulous clusters
• Nutlets very narrow-winged

Length

• Mature seed catkins 13–16 mm

Bark

Form

• Smooth

Colour

• Reddish-brown with conspicuous horizontal orange lenticels

Size

Height

• To 8 m

Diameter

• To 12 cm

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Clumped, crooked

Habitat

Site

• Moist sites such as stream banks and swamps

Light tolerance

• Intolerant of shade

Associated species

• Often mixed with black spruce or eastern white-cedar

Range

Newfoundland and northeastern Quebec, south to Lake Erie, westward to central British Columbia, and northern Yukon