Observe the Alnus incana,

April 9.

Observe the Alnus incana, which is distinguished from the common by the whole branchlet hanging down, so that the sterile aments not only are but appear terminal, and by the brilliant polished reddish green of the bark, and by the leaves.

The snow now disappearing, I observe the Mill Brook suddenly inclosed between two lines of green. Some kind of grass rises above the surface in deep water. like two faint lines of green drawn with a brush, betraying the sun's chemistry. Perhaps three days ago it was not.  Answering to the dotted lines. 

The maple by the bridge in bloom.


H. D. Thoreau, Journal, April 9, 1852

Observe the Alnus incana. . . See April 9, 1856 ("The Alnus incana, especially by the railroad opposite the oaks, sheds pollen.”) See also A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Alders

The maple by the bridge in bloom.  See April 9, 1856 ("White maples also, the sunny sides of clusters and sunny sides of trees in favorable localities, shed pollen to-day.") See also April 7, 1861 ("The white maple at the bridge not quite out.") and note to April 6, 1855 ("White maple stamens stand out already loosely enough to blow in the wind.") and A Book of the Seasons,  by Henry Thoreau, White Maple Buds and Flowers