Red Alder. Kaiser Woods. Nikon Z5. January 10.

Plant identification can be difficult. I try to make it simple for myself. In Kaiser Woods, there are a few tree species that dominate. Red Alder (Alnus rubra) is one of them.

Red Alder has thin, gray bark often with patches of white lichens.  Because of the whitish appearance of the bark, it is often confused with Paper Birch (https://nativeplantspnw.com/red-alder-alnus-rubra/)

Here are images of the top and bottom of the leaf. Note how the edges are rolled (revolute) over on the bottom of leaf below. This is the easiest way for me to identify the tree from other alders (https://uwbdr.uwb.edu/wetland/plants/alnus-rubra)

A note on the bark: I noticed these strange black markings. These are from a lichen called Graftis scripta or pencil-mark lichen (https://salishmagazine.org/in-the-company-of-alders/#:~:text=An%20easy%2Dto%2Didentify%20lichen,squiggle%20marks%20on%20the%20bark.)

These images were created with the Nikon Z5. The lenses used were the Micro-Nikkor 55mm 3.5 and the TTArtisans 75mm F2 AF Lens.