''Alnus acuminata'' is a species of

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 ...

in the

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 ...

family. It is found in montane forests from central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

.Zuloaga, F. O., O. N. Morrone, M. J. Belgrano, C. Marticorena & E. Marchesi. (eds.) 2008. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares del Cono Sur. Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 107(1–3): i–xcvi, 1–3348.

Description

''Alnus acuminata'' grows up to tall with a straight trunk up to thick. The bark has many yellowish

lenticel A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the bark of woody stems and roots of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It functions as a pore, providing a ...

s. The leaves are simple, oval with toothed margins. The inflorescences 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, separate male and female flowers on the same tree. The male flowers are up to long and pendulous, while the smaller female flowers are green, erect and resemble a small

cone A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines con ...

. After wind fertilisation, the female flowers develop into long dehiscent, woody brown fruits. There are 80 to 100 winged seeds per fruit, and these are liberated when ripe, leaving the dried out fruit husks on the tree. There are three subspecies: ''Alnus acuminata'' subsp. ''acuminata'' occurs from Colombia and Venezuela south to northern Argentina; ''Alnus acuminata'' subsp. ''arguta'' (Schltdl.) Furlow occurs from northwestern Mexico south to Panama; and ''Alnus acuminata'' subsp. ''glabrata'' (Fernald) Furlow occurs in central and southern Mexico.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
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Distribution and habitat

''Alnus acuminata'' grows at altitudes between in the mountain ranges in tropical Central and South America from Mexico to northern Argentina. It mostly grows on areas with 1000–3000 mm of rainfall, on slopes and valleys. It tolerates poor soils and acid conditions, but prefers silt or sandy silt soils. It is a fast-growing tree, a pioneer species used for watershed protection and can be used for soil improvement because it has root nodules that fix nitrogen.

Timber

The timber is light to mid reddish-brown and fine grained. It is used for building bridges and pilings, for making coffins, boxes, crates, furniture and plywood. It also makes a good firewood that burns steadily.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3926843 Trees of Guatemala acuminata Trees of Mexico Trees of Central America Trees of South America Trees of Peru Trees of Argentina Trees of Colombia Trees of Bolivia Trees of Venezuela Plants described in 1817 Least concern plants Least concern flora of North America Least concern biota of South America Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Yungas Flora of the Southern Andean Yungas