#speckled alder

[aisling-saoirse]

Speckled Alder by the lake, these long bits are the male catkins

[vandaliatraveler]

Blister Run Swamp, situated in a shallow bowl on the crown of Cheat Mountain, is one of the ecological treasures of the Central Appalachian mountains, hosting a number of plants and animals that are typically found farther north in the boreal forests of Maine or southern Canada. The bog forms at the headwaters of Blister Run, which is named for the “blister pine” that grows along its banks; the name is an archaic reference to Canaan fir, a lovely sub-species of balsam fir native to the local highlands. The water in the stream and bog is tea-colored, the result of staining by tannins leached from spruce and fir needles and other organic matter. Some of the characteristic plants of the bog and surrounding spruce-fir forest include: speckled alder (Alnus incana), a wetlands shrub that forms dense thickets by suckering; Canaan fir (Abies balsamea var. phanerolepis); mountain wood sorrel (Oxalis montana); and round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia).

[musictherapy611]

Daily Tree: alnus incana, subspecies rugosa

In English please: Speckled Alder

Range: northeastern continental US - Minnesota eastward to Maine, southward through Wisconsin, Michigan, northern Pennsylvania, New York, northern New Jersey, and the New England states

Photo 1: https : // calphotos . berkeley . edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0506+1082

Photo 2: https : // www . prairiemoon . com/alnus-incana-subsp-rugosa-speckled-alder-prairie-moon-nursery.html

[cricketchirp]

Omnivore, Herbivore, Insectivore, Oh MY!

I walked out the door this morning and wandered down one trail and then another and intended to go farther into the woods, but as often happens, I was stopped in my tracks. On granite at my feet, covered as it was with lichens of the crustose and foliose sort, I spied a rather large specimen of scat. High point. Center of trail. Classic. Based on the size and hair and bones packed within, I…

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[dendroica]

Speckled Alder, Alnus incana (by me)

[dendroica]

Speckled Alder seed cones (by me)

[dendroica]

Speckled Alder catkins on Flickr.