Betulaceae Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa) seed Alnus cremastogyne Burk

LATIN NAME: Alnus glutinosa

COMMON NAME: Black Alder

The alder hangs its small, woody cones along the winter branches, and the round, green catkins open before the leaves. The deciduous tree carries the round, blunt-tipped, dark-green leaves and the small, woody, cone-like fruits along the bare branches, one of the quiet, steady sights of the wet ground, while the catkins lengthen in the early spring. The tree holds the wet bank with the strong roots, and the wood has a long record in the old craft of the wet lands. It is a tree of the open, sunny to lightly shaded, moist, deep ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The alder is a steady subject of the plant science, and the woody cones keep showing up in the work on the wetland trees. The way the small, woody, cone-like fruits hold the seeds through the winter has been studied at length, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the wetland trees, the nitrogen-fixing trees and the members of the birch family. The round, blunt-tipped leaves and the cone-like fruits have also made it a fine study tree, and the alder is a regular subject of the work on the wet-bank trees of the cool world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The alder is a fine, steady tree of the wet bank and the river side. The strong roots hold the wet bank against the wash of the water, making it one of the fine choices for the river-side plantings and the wet ground, and the round, green catkins open in the early spring, with the small, woody, cone-like fruits hanging along the branches through the year, feeding the small birds. The wood comes to the old craft of the wet lands, and the tree has been written up in the ecological and the forestry papers for the steady ways and the soil-holding roots. It is a fine, steady tree of the open, sunny to lightly shaded, moist, deep garden.

Give the young trees the moist ground by the water, and they will settle in the first season.

To grow the alder from seed, set the small, winged seeds on the surface of the moist tray, without covering them, keep the tray in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings show themselves within a few weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun or the light shade and the moist ground, the steady tree will hold the wet bank over the years.