Alnus rhombifolia, the white alder, is an alder tree native to western North America, from British Columbia and Washington east to western Montana, southeast to the Sierra Nevada, and south through the Peninsular Ranges and Colorado Desert oases in Southern California.[Flora of North America: Alnus rhombifolia][ Alnus rhombifolia is primarily found in the chaparral and woodlands, montane, and .]
Description
Alnus rhombifolia is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to (rarely to ) tall, with pale gray bark, smooth on young trees, becoming scaly on old trees. The leaf are alternate, rhombic to narrow elliptic, long and broad, with a finely serrated margin and a rounded to acute apex; they are thinly hairy below.[http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-lifeform=any&rel-taxon=contains&where-taxon=Alnus+rhombifolia&rel-namesoup=matchphrase&where-namesoup=&rel-location=matchphrase&where-location=&rel-county=eq&where-county=any&rel-state=eq&where-state=any&rel-country=eq&where-country=any&where-collectn=any&rel-photographer=contains&where-photographer=&rel-kwid=equals&where-kwid=&max_rows=24 calphoto . accessed 9/29/2010]
The are produced in . The male catkins are pendulous, slender, long, yellowish, and produced in clusters of two to seven; pollination is in early spring, before the leaves emerge. The female catkins are ovoid, when mature in autumn long and broad, on a stem, superficially resembling a small conifer cone.[Oregon State University: Alnus rhombifolia]
The white alder is closely related to the Alnus rubra, differing in the leaf margins being flat, not curled under. Like other alders, it is able to fix nitrogen, and tolerates infertile soils.[
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Medicinal use
Some Plateau Indian tribes use white alder for female health treatment needs.
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