Heart on an Alder Leaf

Last week while we were at Woodard Bay in Olympia, WA, my older daughter, Windchime, noticed this pretty heart on an alder leaf, so I snapped a shot to share with all of you!     


Then I wondered what type of tree it was, and I took a few more pictures of the tree so I could try and identify it later.  The leaves reminded me of the leaves on some of the trees in our yard.  We have sitka alders in our yard, but sitka alders are more the size of a shrub or small tree, and the tree this leaf was on was much larger and most definitely a tree.

After searching, I found out there are both red alder trees and white alder trees in the Pacific Northwest.  It seems that the easiest way to tell the difference between the two types of trees are to look at the bottom of the leaves.  The leaf margins on red alders trees are tightly rolled under, and the leaf margins on white alder trees aren't rolled under.  I think what we saw was a red alder tree because when taking a close look at the back side of the leaf, it appears to me that the leaf margins are rolled under.



The day we went to Woodard Bay was hot, and the shade the red alder trees provided felt refreshing!



♥ To see more hearts from around the world, visit Guest Heart Thursday. ♥

Comments

  1. Beautiful, refreshing, and full of heart! We have alders around our area, but I had no idea there were different kinds ... now I will have to go look at the leaves! Thank you and Windchime for finding and sharing this beautiful little heart!

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  2. Very sweet heart. and a great post.

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  3. I think it's wonderful that your daughter noticed the heart and pointed it out to you!

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  4. Great to have you join my Wild Heart blog- Your place is filled with light and love. Be back soon!

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