common tree species at sea level in forests, abandoned fields and on lakeshores. Several species of Lepidoptera use grey alder as a food plant for their caterpillars. In the boreal forest area of Canada, A. incana is often associated with black spruce in the forest type termed black spruce–speckled alder. The larvae of the alder woolly sawfly sometimes cause considerable defoliation to the grey alder. A. rugosa provides cover for wildlife, is browsed by deer and moose, and the seeds are eaten by birds. Chemistry Pedunculagin is an ellagitannin found in the Manchurian alder (A. hirsuta var. microphylla). Uses The tree is cultivated in parks and gardens. The cultivar 'Aurea', with green-gold leaves, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. It is sometimes used in afforestation and agroforestry in non-fertile or wet soils which it enriches by means of nitrogen fixing bacteria in its root nodules. Alder is an excellent tree for coppicing and pollarding. Its cut branches may be fed to browsing livestock such as cows and goats, then used for kindling, firewood, or light construction - while root systems fertilize adjacent agricultural plots via nitrogen fixation. The Zuni people use the bark of the tenuifolia subspecies to dye deerskin reddish brown. The Ho-Chunk people eat the bark of the rugosa subspecies when their stomachs are "sour" or upset. Its wood and bark are used in smoking meat, particularly fish and duck. References Further reading incana Trees of Europe Trees of North America Trees of Asia Plant dyes Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus