Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willd.

Tag Alder; Hazel Alder; Brookside Alder

Shrub

Perennial

Vascular

Hazel Alder is a native deciduous shrub in the Birch family (Betulaceae). It is native to all of Alabama. Hazel Alder occurs along streams and rivers, in swamps and marshes, on the shores of ponds and lakes, and along wet roadside ditches. It is a deciduous multi-trunked shrub 10-30 feet in height. The bark is smooth and gray in color. The trunks are usually longitudinally fluted, and somewhat resemble those of the related Muscle Wood (Carpinus caroliniana Walter). The inner bark when exposed to the air becomes an orange color. Leaves are alternate, deciduous, elliptic to obovate in outline, with a toothed margin. The leaves are pubescent and resinous on the lower surface. Flowers are produced in the winter or very early spring, before the leaves are present. Flowers are produced in catkins and lack petals. Male catkins are drooping, 2-4 inches in length, and occur near the ends of branches in groups of 2-5. They are yellow or brownish yellow when the pollen is being released. Erect female catkins are produced individually at the tips of branches. They are 1/5-1/4 inch in length and red or purple in color. The female catkins develop into woody, bark brown, cone-like structures. Fruit are small, leathery, elliptic or obovate samaras. Hazel Alder is often planted for erosion control along streams. It has a symbiotic relationship with Frankia alni, a nitrogen fixing actinomycete. You might see a white, waxy fuzzy mass on the trunks of Hazel Alder. These are Woolly Alder Aphids in the subfamily Eriosomatinae. They are often quite conspicuous during the late fall and winter months. Hazel Alder bark has been used as a dye, and various other parts of the plant have been used in herbal medicine to alleviate pain, as a tonic or purgative, for coughs and fevers, for indigestion, and for other ailments.--A. Diamond

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Native FACW+ (NWPL) G5 (Global Rank)

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