Alnus nepalensis

Nepalese alder is in the birch or Betulaceae family and is native to the subtropical highlands of the Himalayas. It can reach up to 30 m in height.

• Leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to oblong, rounded at the base, shallowly-toothed, broadly-rounded and up to 7–16 cm long and 5–10 cm across, smooth, prominent 12–14 pairs of parallel veins.
• Species is monoecious. Flower catkins emerge in early spring before the leaves. Male catkins are up to 10-25 cm long, drooping and are dull purple turning to dark yellow, in clusters of 3 to 5; female catkins are small (up to 2 cm long), red, upright clusters of up to 8, maturing by August-September.
• Fruit is a cone-like woody catkin, egg-shaped and 2 cm long, initially green, ripening to brown in late fall. It is persistent through the winter (non-fragmenting).
• Bark is thick sliver-gray; twigs are glabrescent, ribbed, hardly triangular.