Alder vs Hard Maple

Alnus glutinosa compared with Acer saccharum

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Alder	Hard Maple
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class same	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Fagales (Beeches & Oaks)	Sapindales (Sapindales)
Family	Betulaceae	Sapindaceae
Genus	Alnus	Acer
Species	Alnus glutinosa	Acer saccharum

Evolutionary Relationship

Alder and Hard Maple share a common ancestor at the Class level: Magnoliopsida. (Dicots)

Conservation Status

Alder

LC — Least Concern

Hard Maple

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Alder	Hard Maple
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Alder

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Asia (India, Japan), Europe (6 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand), and South America (Chile).

Hard Maple

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Armenia, Turkey), Europe (5 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

Alder

The Alder (Alnus glutinosa) is a species in the genus Alnus. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 3 countries:

🇨🇦 Canada 🇳🇴 Norway 🇺🇸 United States