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. It occurs in riparian zone habitats at an altitudes range of 100 –.Flora of North America: Alnus rhombifolia While not reported in northern Baja California, it has been predicted on the basis of its climatic adaptation to occur there also. Alnus rhombifolia is primarily found in the chaparral and woodlands, montane, and temperate forests ecoregions.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
⚠ sources differ — GIFT: 20.06 m · USDA: 19.81 m · TRY: 23.51 m
Seed mass0.667 mg
Seed mass max1.87 mg
Seed mass min0.366 mg
Life cycle & reproduction26
Bloom periodFall
Coppice potentialNo
Deciduousnessdeciduous
Dispersal typewind
Flower colourgreen
Flower conspicuousNo
Fruit seed period beginSummer
Fruit seed period endSummer
Growth rate USDARapid
Life formtree
Life spanperennial
Lifespan categoryLong
Propagated by bare rootYes
Propagated by bulbNo
Propagated by containerYes
Propagated by cormNo
Propagated by cuttingsYes
Propagated by seedYes
Propagated by sodNo
Propagated by sprigsNo
Propagated by tubersNo
Raunkiær life formphanerophyte
Resprout abilityYes
Seed spread rateRapid
Seedling vigorHigh
Vegetative spread rateNone
Diet & foraging1
Parasiteindependent
Habitat & environment24
Active growth periodSpring and Summer
Adapted to coarse textured soilsYes
Adapted to fine textured soilsYes
Adapted to medium textured soilsYes
Aquaticterrestrial
BloatNone
Climatetemperate
Climberself-supporting
Epiphyteterrestrial
Foliage colorGreen
Foliage porosity summerModerate
Foliage porosity winterPorous
Foliage textureMedium
Fruit colourbrown
Growth formtree
Growth form USDAMultiple Stem
Hedge toleranceMedium
Known allelopathNo
Leaf retentionNo
Low growing grassNo
Root depth min12 in
Shape and orientationErect
Small grainNo
Woodinesswoody
Physiology & chemistry25
Anaerobic toleranceLow
C:N ratioHigh
Caco3 toleranceNone
Cold stratification requiredNo
Drought toleranceLow
Fertility requirementLow
Fire resistantNo
Fire toleranceLow
Frost free days min200 days
Leaf c486 mg/g
Leaf dry-matter content (LDMC)493 mg/g
Leaf n22.32 mg/g
Moisture useHigh
Nitrogen fixation levelLow
Photosynthetic pathwayC3
Precipitation max125 in
Precipitation min20 in
Protein potentialLow
Salinity toleranceNone
Shade toleranceLow
Soil pH max7.5 pH
Soil pH min4.8 pH
Specific leaf area (SLA)10.33 mm²/mg
Temperature min-24 °F
Wood density471 mg/cm³
Uses & economy16
Berry nut seed productNo
Christmas tree productNo
Commercial availabilityRoutinely Available
Fodder productNo
Fuelwood productMedium
Lumber productYes
Naval store productYes
Nursery stock productNo
Palatable browse animalLow
Palatable graze animalLow
Palatable humanNo
Post productYes
Pulpwood productYes
Seeds per pound687 000 per lb
ToxicityNone
Veneer productYes
Other traits7
Fall conspicuousNo
Fruit seed abundanceHigh
Fruit seed conspicuousNo
Fruit seed persistenceYes
Height at 20yr15.24 m
Planting density max400 per acre
Planting density min50 per acre
05DNA & barcoding5 specimens
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Alnus rhombifolia has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens5
Marker genes3
eDNA detections1
Countries2
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK★rbcLa★ITS2
plant barcodefungal barcode
07Deep time~1.09 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin1.09 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type4 070 records
Wild obs. + sensor2 487
Museum / vouchered1 582
Cultivated / captive1
Origin
Native162
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO7 032 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy93% within 1 km
≤100 m 1 530≤1 km 259≤10 km 105>10 km 33
1 927 georeferenced · 560 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor2 487
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy54% within 1 km
≤100 m 59≤1 km 396≤10 km 354>10 km 26
835 georeferenced · 747 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 582
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Coordinate accuracy
no georeferenced coordinates · 1 records without
Open the mapnot free-living1
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions59 of 81 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Claremont, US
225
Riverside, US
141
Angwin, US
120
San Diego, US
95
Pullman, US
70
Santa Barbara, US
68
CASlocation not on record
62
Davis, US
53
Corvallis, US
52
Moscow, US
51
Arcata, US
44
San Luis Obispo, US
35
WTUlocation not on record
35
Chicago, US
34
DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record
30
US
29
Los Angeles, US
27
Bronx, US
27
Long Beach, US
16
Fredericton Stock Culture Collectionlocation not on record
15
Severin-McDaniel Insect Collectionlocation not on record
15
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
14
Irvine, US
14
Portland, US
13
Northridge, US
10
Cheney, US
8
Santa Cruz, US
8
San Bernardino, US
8
Boise, US
7
Wuzhou, CN
6
Madison, US
5
San Francisco, US
5
Turlock, US
5
Fort Worth, US
5
Bangkok, TH
4
Flagstaff, US
4
Provo, US
4
San Jose, US
4
Ashland, US
4
EL PASO, US
4
Phoenix, US
3
Christchurch, NZ
3
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
3
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
3
Tampa, US
3
Tacoma, US
3
Pocatello, US
2
MeiseBGlocation not on record
2
Oskarshamn, SE
2
Mexico City, MX
2
Caldwell, US
2
Logan, US
2
Bloomington, US
2
Lubbock, US
2
KNFHClocation not on record
2
Valdosta State Universitylocation not on record
2
Jackson, US
2
Turku, FI
1
Wellington, NZ
1
Beijing, CN
1
MAlocation not on record
1
Auckland, NZ
1
San Diego Natural History Museumlocation not on record
1
Saint Louis, US
1
Denver, US
1
University of Wisconsinlocation not on record
1
Pittsburg, US
1
Museo Achille Folettolocation not on record
1
Philadelphia, US
1
Karlsruhe, DE
1
Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record
1
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
1
Dekalb, US
1
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record
1
Henderson, US
1
GAlocation not on record
1
Mississippi State, US
1
STNFlocation not on record
1
Columbia, US
1
LDlocation not on record
1
San Diego Natural History Museum, Herbariumlocation not on record
1
81 institutions · 1 440 of 1 582 vouchered records shown · 142 without an institution code
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
09Environmental DNA1 detections
Where the DNA of Alnus rhombifolia was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found1
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 1 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
Riparian/Oak Woodland with Quercus agrifolia…
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median19.0 °C 19.0–19.0
Seasonal swing summer↔winter9.50 °C
Max temp (day)24.4 °C
Min temp (night)14.9 °C
Precipitation2.40 mm/mo
Air humidity61.8 %
Moisture balance-146 mm/mo
Vapour deficit842 Pa
Wind speed1.80 m/s
Cloud cover16.7 %
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 1 detection point · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation7 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility4 070 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI1 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics5 specimens↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗