Photo: Fepup, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Smooth Alder (Swamp Alder)
Alnus serrulata
Also called hazel alder, tag alder, swamp alder.
A nitrogen-fixing streambank shrub that holds soil, feeds woodcock and grouse, and thrives in standing water.
Tolerates wet soilWildlife valueNitrogen fixing
- Type
- Shrub
- Mature height
- 10–20 ft
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Sun
- Full · Part
- Soil moisture
- Wet
210
Smooth alder lines slow streams and pond edges across the eastern states. Its roots fix nitrogen and knit wet banks together, its catkins feed early bees and its cone-like fruits feed finches all winter. Plant it to stabilize a wet ditch or shoreline, or as a nurse shrub around young bottomland trees.
Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. Estimate growth for this species →
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