Betulaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Alnus acuminata

Edibility

0/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Botanical Description

Alnus acuminata is a medium-sized to tall evergreen tree with a wide, rounded crown; usually growing 10 - 25 metres tall but exceptional specimens may reach 30 - 40 metres[ 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ]. The bole is straight, usually 20 - 50cm in diameter, but sometimes up to 100cm[ 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ]. On unfavourable sites the plant may only develop into a shrub[ 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ]. The tree is harvested from the wild as a local source of wood, fuel, tannins and dyes. It is sometimes cultivated as a timber crop in plantations[ 381 Title Timber Trees of Meso America. Publication Author Website http://www.unep-wcmc.org/forest/timber/workshops/reports/MA2005/Annex%202.pdf Publisher UNEP Year 2005 ISBN Description A PDF document, published on the internet. Detailed reports on about 30 species of timber trees from Central America. ]. A widespread and common montane species, but much of its original habitat in the drier inter-Andean valleys has disappeared over the centuries. The tree is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical

Native RangeS. America - Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, north through C. America to Mexico.

HabitatGrows well on steep mountain slopes at elevations between 1,000 metres in Costa Rica and 3,800 metres in Peru[ 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ]. Common in the mountains, often forming almost pure, dense, extensive stands, but more often associated with oaks and often with pines[ 331 Title Flora of Guatemala Publication Author Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark Website http://www.archive.org/ Publisher Year 1946 - 1976 ISBN Description A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/ ].