The work focuses on the study of the variability of natural populations of the gray alder in Horehronské podolie and Veporské vrchy. The variability is evaluated on the base of the selected quality characteristics of the stem, crown and bark. The health conditions (damage) of the boles and crowns and the assess of the growth characteristics of the examined taxon were also evaluated. Based on the reached results, we can state that the investigated subjects were predominantly of stool origin. The health conditions of stems were evaluated as good, since almost 87,8% of stems were healthy. Crowns of the inquiry subjects and their health conditions were also evaluated very favorably because subjects with undamaged of the crown represented 80,5%. The evaluated subjects are classified into 4 qualitative grades according to the investigated qualitative features.The proportions of the subjects that belongs to the qualitative classes A and B is almost 81,1%.Keywords: Alnus incana, quality characteristics of stem, crown, bark, health condition