# Speckled Alder (Alnus incana subsp. rugosa)

> Speckled alder, Alnus incana subsp. rugosa: a shrub of 15 to 33 feet for zones 2 to 6, when it flowers and fruits, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/speckled-alder/

![Heavily veined speckled alder leaves with hanging catkins and small green cones against the sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/speckled-alder-1000.jpg?v=1435c110 "Speckled alder leaves, catkins and cones at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan, on September 15, 2018. It flowers from March to May, as its leaves unfold.")
*Photo: National Park Service, [Public domain](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASpeckled_Alder_(Alnus_rugosa)_(d1ef2a04-42dc-4584-87ba-d90bc0812116).JPG) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASpeckled_Alder_(Alnus_rugosa)_(d1ef2a04-42dc-4584-87ba-d90bc0812116).JPG))*

Shrub, 15 to 33 feet, zones 2 to 6; full sun, part shade or shade; average or wet ground.

We do not grow speckled alder, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Speckled Alder |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Hoary alder, gray alder |
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, feet | 15 to 33 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 25 |
| Zones | 2 to 6 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Wildlife value, nitrogen fixing, winter interest, erosion control |
| Flowers | March to May |
| Fruit | Cones, August to February |
| First crop | 5 to 10 years (abundant crops about every 4 years) |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Transplanting | The Morton Arboretum's page on speckled alder marks it as one that transplants well. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Stream banks, the forest understory, swamps and wet flats, old fields and edges |
| Native in | 20 states |

Speckled alder is native in 20 states: [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV) and [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=speckled-alder): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=speckled-alder): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=speckled-alder&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=speckled-alder): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=speckled-alder): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=speckled-alder): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=speckled-alder): the seed sowing planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=speckled-alder): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its height](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=speckled-alder): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=speckled-alder): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Nannyberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nannyberry/index.html.md) (*Viburnum lentago*): shrub, 12 to 18 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares stream banks, the forest understory, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Squashberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/squashberry/index.html.md) (*Viburnum edule*): shrub, 2 to 7 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares stream banks, the forest understory, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Alderleaf Buckthorn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/alderleaf-buckthorn/index.html.md) (*Rhamnus alnifolia*): shrub, 2 to 5 feet, zones 3 to 7. Shares stream banks, the forest understory, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Gray Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gray-dogwood/index.html.md) (*Cornus racemosa*): shrub, 4 to 10 feet, zones 4 to 8. Shares stream banks, the forest understory, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Virginia Sweetspire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/virginia-sweetspire/index.html.md) (*Itea virginica*): shrub, 3 to 6 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares stream banks, the forest understory, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Canada Yew](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/canada-yew/index.html.md) (*Taxus canadensis*): shrub, 3 to 6 feet, zones 2 to 7. Shares stream banks, the forest understory, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Every companion of speckled alder in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=speckled-alder)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual and the USDA PLANTS Database.