''Alnus subcordata'', the Caucasian alder, is a species in the family

Betulaceae Betulaceae, the birch family, includes six genera of deciduous nut-bearing trees and shrubs, including the birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams, hazel-hornbeam, and hop-hornbeams numbering a total of 167 species. They are mostly natives of the t ...

, native to Hyrcanian forests of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

. It is closely related to the

Italian alder ''Alnus cordata'', the Italian alder, is a tree or shrub species belonging to the family Betulaceae, and native to the southern Apennine Mountains (Campania, Basilicata and Calabria, mainly on western mountain sides) and the north-eastern moun ...

(''A. cordata'') and ''

Alnus orientalis ''Alnus orientalis'', the Oriental alder, is a deciduous, short-lived species of alder (''Alnus''). It grows up to 50 meters high, and is native to Cyprus and Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' ...

''. It is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

growing to 15–25 m tall, with similar glossy green cordate

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

5–15 cm long. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are

catkin A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in ''Salix''). They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged cl ...

s, the male catkins very slender, 8–15 cm long, the female catkins small, maturing into a woody cone-like

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

2–3 cm long containing numerous small winged

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s. Two varieties have been recorded: *''Alnus subcordata'' var. ''subcordata'' C.A. Mey. *''Alnus subcordata'' var. ''villosa'' (Regel) H.J.P.Winkl

Uses

It is a commercially valuable species with "widespread application in timber and furniture industries". It has a

calorific value The heating value (or energy value or calorific value) of a substance, usually a fuel or food (see food energy), is the amount of heat released during the combustion of a specified amount of it. The ''calorific value'' is the total energy rele ...

of about 4.6 cal/g.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2666298 subcordata Flora of the Caucasus Trees of Western Asia Trees of Azerbaijan