Alnus incana
 
Speckled Alder

Fruit Side A

Duck Mountain Provincial Park
14-May-2015

This fruit is from the previous season and was obtained by breaking up one of the old, persistent pistillate catkins in my hand.  Most of the fruit have already been released, but often a few remain and these can be useful in identification.  Note the absence of a broad margin (the body comprises much more than half the width).  The fruit of A. viridis does have a broad margin.  

Note that Flora of Alberta calls this species A. tenuifolia.

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Incana: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this species. 
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tall shrub or small tree; NOT [shrubs]

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leaves dull; NOT [leaves shining]

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leaf buds stipitate; NOT [leaf buds sessile]

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leaf buds covered by 2 or 3 scales of nearly equal length; NOT [leaf buds covered by imbricate scales of unequal length]

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flowers developed before the leaves in early spring; NOT [flowers developed with the leaves on the twigs of the current season]

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nutlet wingless, merely margined; NOT [nutlet broadly wing-margined, the body comprising less than half the width]

 

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Alnus: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this genus. 
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staminate flowers usually three in the axils of the catkin bracts; NOT [staminate flowers solitary in the axils of the catkin bracts]

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stamens 4; NOT [stamens 2]

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pistillate catkin elongated; NOT [pistillate flowers few in a short, bud-like catkin]

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bracts of pistillate catkins becoming thick and woody; NOT [bracts of pistillate catkins thin, 3-lobed]

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bracts of pistillate catkins persistent; NOT [bracts of pistillate catkins deciduous]

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fruit a nutlet in the axil of a catkin bract; NOT [fruit a nut enclosed in a leafy, hispid involucre with a long beak]

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nutlets narrow-winged or with leathery margins; NOT [nutlets mostly broadly winged], NOT [nuts wingless]

 

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Betulaceae: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora  leading to this family. 
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shrubs or trees; NOT [herbs]

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flowers with only one floral ring, with sepals but not petals

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male flowers, at least, in catkins or aments; NOT [flowers not in catkins or aments]

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styles 2; NOT [styles 3]

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fruit NOT an acorn

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seeds WITHOUT a tuft of hairs