Mountain Alder Tree Information

Images of Mountain Alder:


Mountain Alder grows in the following 10 states and provinces:

Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Yukon

Information about Mountain Alder:


More information about Mountain Alder may be found here.

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

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 . It has been separated into the following two subspecies : 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 . This review is on Sitka alder.

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 .

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 . 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

Some of the information provided 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 the USDA Fire Effects Information System (FEIS) website