Alder vs Western White Pine

Alnus glutinosa compared with Pinus monticola

Key Differences

• Alder is Least Concern while Western White Pine is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Alder	Western White Pine
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Coniferophyta (Conifers)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Pinopsida (Conifers)
Order	Fagales (Beeches & Oaks)	Pinales (Pines & Allies)
Family	Betulaceae	Pinaceae (Pine Family)
Genus	Alnus	Pinus (Pines)
Species	Alnus glutinosa	Pinus monticola

Evolutionary Relationship

Alder and Western White Pine share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Plantae. (Plants)

Conservation Status

Alder

LC — Least Concern

Western White Pine

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Alder	Western White Pine
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).

Western White Pine

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, tundra, and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests spanning the Australasia and Oceanian realms.

Range

Distributed across Argentina, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

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 🇳🇿 New Zealand 🇳🇴 Norway