Thinleaf Alder
Alnus incana
Hosts 1 caterpillarBird foodNitrogen fixer

(c) Hladac, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Growing it
| When | Flowers April to May |
|---|---|
| Type | shrub |
| Sun | Full sun, partial shade |
| Water | Medium, high |
| Soil | pH 5–7 |
| Hardiness | zone 2–6 |
| Mature height | 6 m |
| Mature spread | 4.5 m |
| Spacing | 3 m |
| Years to maturity | 5 |
| Bloom | Apr–May |
| In bloom | April May |
| Native to | AB, SK |
egg-shaped leaves about 9 cm long; several stems from the base
Where it has been recorded
Which ecoregions the records fall in
- Aspen Parkland central AB / SK: 43 records, high confidence
- Mid-Boreal Uplands central AB / SK: 36 records, high confidence
- Western Alberta Upland central AB: 22 records, high confidence
- Boreal Transition central AB / SK: 9 records, medium confidence
- Eastern Continental Ranges central AB: 6 records, low confidence
- Peace Lowland north AB: 6 records, low confidence
- Northern Continental Divide south AB: 5 records, low confidence
- Athabasca Plain north AB / SK: 4 records, low confidence
- Slave River Lowland north AB: 4 records, low confidence
- Tazin Lake Upland north AB / SK: 4 records, low confidence
- Wabasca Lowland north AB: 4 records, low confidence
- Fescue Grassland south AB: 3 records, low confidence
- Hay River Lowland north AB: 3 records, low confidence
- Moist Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 3 records, low confidence
These are counts of records collected somewhere in the region, which is the resolution of the evidence: the map above shows where inside it. A region with 3 records is not the same claim as one with three hundred, so the count travels with the region. A region missing from this list means nobody has recorded it there, which is not the same as the plant being absent. Records within 900 m of a border count for neither side, because the border is not drawn finely enough to say which one they are on. Source: GBIF occurrence search + PRESERVED_SPECIMEN pass, retrieved 2026-08-24. Boundaries digitised from the National Ecological Framework for Canada v2.2 (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995), simplified to about 900 m for display: an outline is accurate to roughly a kilometre, not to the metre. How these counts are made.
See every observation, live and current, on GBIF or iNaturalist.
Documented animals
4 documented relationships.
seed for
- American Goldfinch Poelen et al. 2014
- Pine Siskin Poelen et al. 2014
caterpillar host for
- Spotted Tussock Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Woolly Alder Aphid Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Also worth knowing
Safety
Toxicity not assessed, absence of a warning is not a guarantee of safety
Buying it
About $25–$50 per plant (estimate), usually from a native-plant nursery. Estimate (shrub default); AB retail as of 2026