(Alnus alnobetula (Ehrh.) Hartig)
Habitus
- it is a branched shrub 2 – 3 m high with arched branches
- the bark is reddish-brown, later to grayish-brown
Buds
- the buds are built in a spiral, ovate-pointed to conical
- shell scales multiple (2-6), reddish-brown to purple, glossy, slightly sticky
Shoots
- they are slightly compressed, olive green to brownish with distinct whitish lenticels
Leaves (assimilation organs)
- they are simple, ovate to elliptical, short-pointed, 3 - 5 x 2 - 3 cm large
- briefly pointed at the end, rounded to slightly heart-shaped at the base
- irregularly finely double-serrated along the edge
- yellowish-green on both sides
- on the reverse side in the armpits of the veins there are hairs
- the stem is 8 - 18 mm
Flowers
- they are monoecious, multisexual flowers which bloom simultaneously with the development of leaves
- ♂ catkins are oblong-ovate, 1-2 cm in size, green to purple, they are established by 2-6 at the end of the shoots already in the previous year, at the time of flowering they are elongated and overhanging
- ♀ catkins overwinter in buds, grow only in spring, are small, oblong-ovate, greenish, 2-3 on erect peduncles
Fruits – seeds
- the fruit is a bilaterally winged achene
- the cones are ovoid, about 1 cm in size, on a long thin stalk
Extension
- there are originally two centres of distribution in Europe:
- Eastern Carpathians
- Alps - above the upper border of the forest, where it forms stands similar to mountain pine
- in Slovakia they are introduced in the Western and Low Tatras – plantings above the upper forest line in the dwarf pine zone in sites devastated by grazing, or hard-to-forest sites
Ecology
- it is a light-loving woody plant of continental climate
- it is frost-resistant, grows well even in wetter locations
Significance
- it is a pioneer woody plant
- at higher altitudes, soil protection, water management importance – similar to dwarf pine
