# Alderleaf Buckthorn (Rhamnus alnifolia)

> A low native buckthorn of fens, swamps and wet thickets, with alder-like leaves and black fruit for birds, at home in cold, limy wetlands.

Also called alder buckthorn, alder-leaved buckthorn, American alder buckthorn. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/alderleaf-buckthorn/

![Alderleaf buckthorn (Rhamnus alnifolia) glossy, deeply veined leaves with finely toothed edges](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/alderleaf-buckthorn-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Robert H. Mohlenbrock, Public domain · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARhamnus_alnifolia_NRCS-1.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 2 to 5 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 7
- Grows wild in: Stream banks, the forest understory, swamps and wet flats
- Native range: 29 states, north to North Dakota, south to Tennessee and west to Oregon (California, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming)
- Sun: Part, Shade, Full
- Soil moisture: Wet, Average
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Tolerates wet soil, Wildlife value, Tolerates shade
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Alderleaf buckthorn is a low, thornless native shrub of the buckthorn family, named for its alder-like leaves. It grows in limy fens, swamps, wet meadow edges and stream thickets across the northern states and Canada, and south in the mountains to Virginia and Tennessee. It is not one of the invasive buckthorns: its flowers have five sepals and no petals, where theirs have four of each. Illinois and Tennessee list it as endangered, and Maryland lists it as threatened. Plant it at the wet edge of a pond or in a fen garden, where its roots stay cool and damp.

## Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as a medium grower, like our Carolina buckthorn, about a foot and a half a year. It makes a low, thornless shrub of 2 to 5 feet. Its leaves are 2 to 4 inches long and finely toothed, with straight, evenly spaced veins like an alder's.

Small greenish flowers without petals open from May to July. The fruit ripens black in late summer and early fall, a round drupe about a quarter inch across with three stones, and birds eat it.

It grows wild in limy fens and swamps, riparian thickets, lake shores, wet meadow edges and moist woods. Its range runs from Newfoundland and Maine west to British Columbia and California, and south in the East to Virginia and Tennessee. NatureServe ranks it critically imperiled in Iowa, Maryland, Tennessee and Virginia, at the southern edge of its range.

## How to grow Alderleaf Buckthorn

Alderleaf buckthorn grows in part shade or shade, and in the open sun of fens. It wants a moist to wet soil, and limy ground suits it well. Set plants 3 feet apart and keep them 3 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Sow cleaned seed outdoors in late fall, just covered, so it gets about five months of cold before spring. Seedlings come up in spring, and in one nursery trial 75 percent of the seed sprouted.

Keep it watered through dry spells in its first two summers, since it grows wild in ground that stays wet. It needs no pruning.

Plants are mostly male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female. It is an alternate host of oat crown rust and a main host of the soybean aphid, so keep it away from oat and soybean fields. The berries are mildly poisonous to people.

## Sources

- [Flora of North America, vol. 12: Rhamnus alnifolia, alderleaf buckthorn](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250101340)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Rhamnus chapter (Youngblood)](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/r/at_download/file)
- [Native Plant Network: Rhamnus alnifolia protocol (Tara Luna, Glacier National Park)](https://npn.rngr.net/renderNPNProtocolDetails?selectedProtocolIds=rhamnaceae-rhamnus-145)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Rhamnus alnifolia](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=RHAL)
- [Go Botany, Native Plant Trust: Rhamnus alnifolia, alder-leaved buckthorn](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/rhamnus/alnifolia/)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Rhamnus alnifolia, Alderleaf Buckthorn](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.138983/Rhamnus_alnifolia)
- [Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation: Tennessee Natural Heritage Program Rare Plant List](https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/environment/natural-areas/documents/na_tn-rare-plant-list.pdf)
- [Maryland Natural Heritage Program: List of Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plants of Maryland, 2021](https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Documents/rte_Plant_List.pdf)
- [Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board: Checklist of Endangered and Threatened Animals and Plants of Illinois, 2025 revision](https://dnr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/dnr/espb/documents/et-list-review-and-revision/2025-illinois-list-revision/2025-e-t-checklist.pdf)
- [Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation: Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia, Rare Plants, June 2026](https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/plantlist-current.pdf)
- [West Virginia Division of Natural Resources: Rare Plants tracked by the West Virginia Natural Heritage Program, 4 August 2020](http://wvdnr.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/RTE_Plants.pdf)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Rhamnus alnifolia](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/RHAL)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for birds: caterpillars, fruit, mast, nests and winter cover, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-birds/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Alderleaf Buckthorn, add ?species=alderleaf-buckthorn with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=alderleaf-buckthorn&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Alderleaf Buckthorn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=alderleaf-buckthorn): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=alderleaf-buckthorn
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Alderleaf Buckthorn is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=alderleaf-buckthorn
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Alderleaf Buckthorn needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=alderleaf-buckthorn:3
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Alderleaf Buckthorn flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.