72 Microseasons of the Pacific Northwest

Red alder (Alnus rubra) is the most abundant deciduous tree in the coastal Pacific Northwest, dominating riparian corridors, forest gaps, and second-growth forests from California to Alaska. In February it becomes the first native tree to bloom, producing pendulous male catkins — slender purplish-red cylinders up to 10 centimeters long — that dangle from bare branch tips before any leaves emerge. The female catkins are smaller, erect, and cone-like. Together they dust the surrounding environment with fine yellow-green pollen that accumulates on puddles and car roofs, creating the first true tree pollen of the year. Look for blooming alders along any stream, wetland edge, or disturbed forest from sea level to about 750 meters elevation. The Skagit River floodplain, the Snoqualmie River bottomlands, the Willapa Hills, and virtually every stream drainage in the Olympic Peninsula rainforest are dominated by red alder — in February, the distinctive hanging catkins make previously bare trees suddenly stand out. The bark of mature red alders is pale grey-white and often patched with lichens, giving the trees a birch-like appearance. Ecologically, the catkin bloom is a critical early-season pollen source for native bees (including overwintering queen bumblebees emerging from soil burrows in February) and a key insect habitat that in turn attracts pine siskins, American goldfinches, and black-capped chickadees to pick seeds from the persistent small cones. Red alder also fixes atmospheric nitrogen through root nodule bacteria, making it a pioneer species that rebuilds soil fertility after disturbance — the catkins are both the tree's first act of the new year and a signpost for the entire biological cascade of early spring.