Alder

The leaf

The leaf is almost round, and the most striking thing is its tip: instead of ending in a point, it is blunt or has a small notch. The edge has double, irregular teeth. Young leaves are sticky, hence the name glutinosa, and in autumn they fall while still green.

The bark

On young trees the bark is smooth and dark grey, with pale speckles. With age it turns almost black and cracks into small plates.

The fruit

What look like tiny cones, one to two centimetres long, are the fruits. They start green, then become woody and dark and stay hanging on the branches all winter, next to the catkins for the following year.

The flower

It flowers in the depths of winter, before the leaves come out. The male catkins are long, hanging and purplish or yellowish; the female ones are small and reddish and turn into the little cones.

1. Jan
2. Feb
3. Mar
4. Apr
5. May
6. Jun
7. Jul
8. Aug
9. Sep
10. Oct
11. Nov
12. Dec

Habit

A tree with a straight trunk and a narrow crown, conical when young and more irregular later. It often forms lines that follow the water.

Where it grows

It needs its roots close to water all year round. In Catalonia it is common along rivers in the northern half, such as in the Montseny and the Pyrenees, and scarce along the dry streams of the south.