Plant · P-1168

Grey Alder

Alnus incana

Grey Alder is a fast-growing, short-lived tree of streambanks, seeps and other wet ground that fixes its own nitrogen through root nodules, sharing some of it with neighbouring plants as it grows. It thickets by suckering roots and layering branches, which is exactly what holds a bank together, and it resprouts readily after fire, browsing or beaver cutting. Rarely living past forty years, it acts as a nurse tree that gives way once longer-lived species establish in its shade, while its leaves and twigs feed deer, elk and hares along the way.