Alders grow along the streams of the Coast Range, from Santa Cruz to Alaska. You can find examples just below the family camp, on our side of the river, just before the bend below camp. The tree has broad, coarsely toothed leaves, with a grey-white, patchy bark. The alder we have is probably the red alder, according to Plants of the Coast Redwood Redgion, by Lyons and Cuneo-Lazaneo. Alders have the ability to fix nitrogen, which means their roots have a special bacteria that can take atmospheric nitrogen and transform it into a form than other plants can use. Nitrogen fixation is an important aspect of a biozone'e ecology, since the lack of nitrogen in the soil is often what limits plant growth more than any other nutrient.

The cones are beautiful and unique, being more delicate but similar in size to the coast redwood cones. They are small, about half an inch in length, hard, and brown. Look for them still attached to the outer branches or lying in the sand below the tree.