Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-049
Red Alder
Alnus rubra
Red Alder fixes nitrogen at up to 300 kg per hectare, the heaviest rate of any plant in this collection, and it does it fast - growing up to 6 m in five years even on exposed, poor ground. The dried inner bark grinds into a soup thickener or bread extender, the catkins and buds are edible though bitter, and a sweet sap can be tapped from the trunk on warm late-winter days after a cold night. It is a maritime coastal tree that wants moist to wet soil and a mild summer, and it has no recorded tolerance for long, hot, humid conditions.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 5–6
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Moderate · Wet
Vertical layer
Canopy- Soil pH
- 6–8
- Plant type
- Deciduous Tree
- Mature height
- 66–98 ft
- Mature spread
- 35–50 ft
- Plant spacing
- 24–60 ft
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
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American Holly
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American Persimmon
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American Sycamore
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Apricot
Prunus armeniaca
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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