Description | Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa) is a small native tree that tolerates wet areas but will also tolerate average soils to wet soil levels. |
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Pronunciation | (AL-nus)(glue-ti-NO-sa) |
Plant Type | All Plants, Trees Deciduous, Site author's observations |
Hardiness Zone | 4 |
Sunlight | full to part sun |
Moisture | prefers moist or wet, tolerates average, |
Soil & Site | prefers moist to wet, tolerates average |
Flowers | not showy, forms long male catkins and oval female catkins, dried female catkins look like small conifer cones |
Fruit | small winged nutlet |
Leaves | simple, alternate, green, oval, |
Roots | can fix nitrogen in the soil |
Dimensions | can reach 40-60 feet tall in optimum conditions, will be shrubby in not so optimum conditions |
Maintenance | I wouldn't plant near a deck, sidewalk or driveway, the dropping catkins are very messy. |
Misc Facts | aka:Common Alder, European Alder |
Author's Notes | This was a common weedy tree growing in the wet swampy areas where I grew up. Never seemed to reach any size. Can be a very messy tree when it starts dropping the catkins. |
Notes & Reference | #1-Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Michael Dirr), #93-North American Landscape Trees (Arthur Lee Jacobson) |