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.