Alnus incana
 
Speckled Alder

Mature Staminate and Pistillate Catkins

Duck Mountain Provincial Park
14-May-2015

The pistillate catkins arise from twigs from the previous year, unlike those of A. viridis.  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