Plant · P-014

Smooth Alder

Alnus serrulata

A multi-stemmed, thicket-forming native shrub or small tree of wet ground - streambanks, swamp edges and floodplains - valued for stabilizing eroding banks with dense, spreading roots and for building soil nitrogen through root-nodule bacteria. Reddish female catkins and green-brown male catkins open before the leaves in late winter to early spring, followed by small woody cone-like fruits that persist and feed birds through winter. It suckers readily from the base into broad thickets and tolerates standing water, part shade to full shade, and acidic to neutral soil.