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Alnus Viridis Subsp. Sinuata

The Alnus Viridis Subsp. Sinuata is commonly known as Green Alder, Mountain Alder, Sitka Alder, as well as Wavyleaf Alder

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Growing Regions

Sitka alder is distributed from central Alaska and the Yukon Territory south throughout British Columbia and western Alberta, and from Washington to northwestern California, east to Idaho and central Montana [27,29,35].

     

General Information

The scientific name of Sitka alder Alnus viridis subsp. sinuata (Regel) Love & Loveis. It is a subspecies of green alder is Alnus viridis (Vill.) Lam. & DC. Green alder is a circumpolar taxon distributed across America, Europe, and Asia [18]. It has been separated into the following two subspecies [18,20,30]: Alnus viridis subsp. crispa (Aiton) Turill - mountain alder - northern North America, including northwestern N. America Alnus viridis subsp. sinuata (Regel) Love & Love - Sitka alder - northwestern North America Intermediate forms between these subspecies are found where their ranges overlap [5,18]. This review is on Sitka alder.

Sitka alder is a seral shrub or small tree typically found on moist cool
sites within western redcedar (Thuja plicata), western hemlock (Tsuga
heterophylla), subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), or Pacific silver fir
(A. amabilis) forests in the Cascades and Rocky Mountains
[1,17,29,40,46].

Published classification schemes listing Sitka alder as an indicator
species or as a dominant part of the vegetation in community types (cts)
or habitat types (hts) are presented below:

Area             Classification            Authority

OR,WA            general veg. cts          Franklin & Dyrness 1973

OR:Eagle Cap     general veg. cts          Cole 1982
 Wilderness

OR:Monument Peak general veg. cts          Aller 1965

wcID             general veg. cts          Curtis 1986
eWA,nID          forest hts                Daubenmire & Daubenmire 1968

ID               forest hts                Cooper & others 1987

cID              grand fir/blue hkbry hts  Steele & Geier-Hayes 1987

cID              forest hts                Steele & others 1981

MT               forest hts                Pfister & others 1977

Much of the information presented here is attributed to:
Uchytil, Ronald J. 1989. Alnus viridis subsp. sinuata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available at USDA Forest Service.

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