How fast does alnus glutinosa grow?

Growth rates up to ages 7–10 are very fast but then slow rapidly. Sixty to seventy years is the maximum rotation for growing timber if heart rot is to be avoided. Maximum mean annual increments range from 4 to 14 m3 ha−1 year−1.

Is black alder edible?

Edible Uses of Alder The buds and catkins are edible as a survival food, bitter and not very palatable. There are sources that say the inner bark can be eaten raw, cooked, or dried even used as a flour – but maybe nix that raw idea. Fresh green bark is likely to make you throw up.

What eats alder?

Alder twigs are important food for deer, elk, and moose. Small birds eat the seeds and use the trees for cover and nesting. Beavers eat alder bark and use the branches for constructing their dams.

How does alder pollinate?

A wind-pollinated tree Alder is wind pollinated, so the trees produce huge quantities of small-sized pollen grains that can float on the wind for great distances. The pollen is high in starch, so it is a good source of food energy for the developing bees.

Is alder a good landscape tree?

Alder trees (Alnus spp.) are often used in re-forestation projects and to stabilize soil in wet areas, but you seldom see them in residential landscapes. Nurseries that cater to home gardeners rarely offer them for sale, but when you can find them, these handsome plants make excellent shade trees and screening shrubs.

Does alder make a good hedge?

If your garden has a tendency to become waterlogged, Alder is a perfect choice of hedge. Alder prefers sun or semi-shaded conditions for optimum growth and makes an effective screen to shield other plants from harsh weather conditions. Due to its dense foliage, Alder makes a highly effective windbreak.

What is black alder good for?

Black alder is a tree. The bark and leaves are used to make medicine. People take black alder for bleeding, sore throat, fever, swelling, constipation, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. Black alder is sometimes used as a gargle for sore throat, especially strep throat.

Is alder good for anything?

Alder does this for us as well by soothing inflammation, fighting infection, and promoting healing. The bark is most commonly used, but the leaf buds, mature leaves, male catkins, and female green catkins are also medicinal.

Can you eat alder?

The Red Alder is a native food with edible catkins (male flowers) that can be eaten raw or cooked. They are rich in protein but have a bitter flavor. The inner bark can be eaten cooked but it must be dried since it is emetic when fresh.

Do alder trees have deep roots?

Mature red alder trees are typically 70 to 120 ft in height (130 ft maximum) and 10 to 34 in. The root system of red alder is shallow and spreading where limited by poor drainage; a deep-root system develops on soils with better drainage.

Is alder good for bees?

All maples are good bee trees. Earlier on, the bees have to do with hazel and goat willow – that tree or bush with the fat sausage-like catkins. Alder is said to be good, too. But the main source of honey to beekeepers in London are the lime trees, planted long ago.

What kills alder trees?

Cut into the bark with a machete all the way to wood. Then squirt in some full strength glyphosate. The bigger the tree the more cuts you need to make around the tree.

What is the scientific name of Alnus glutinosa?

Alnus glutinosa belongs to the section Glutinosae Murai of the subgenus Gymnothyrsus. A. glutinosa is a relatively variable species. Populations in Turkey and adjacent areas have been divided by Yaltirik (1967) into three subspecies: subsp. glutinosa (grows within the whole species’ distribution area); subsp. barbata (C.A. Mey) Yalt.

How rare is Alnus incana?

The individuals with young twigs and leaves pubescent (at least on veins), obtuse to shortly acuminate, have been classified as Alnus glutinosa x A. incana (= A.x pubescens) ( Ball, 1964 ). They are not rare, especially where both parental species grow together (naturally in submontane regions and elsewhere in plantations).

What is the taxonomy of the genus Alnus?

The taxonomy of the genus Alnus was the subject of several studies (e.g. Winkler, 1904; Schneider, 1916; Crepanov, 1955; Murai, 1964, 1968) which have been reviewed by Boratynski (1980). The last systematic elaboration ( Murai, 1964) is based on the morphological studies of flowers, female strobiles and fruits.

Is Alnus an invasive species in Canada?

It is a category 1 invasive species in southern Ontario, Canada. The taxonomy of the genus Alnus was the subject of several studies (e.g. Winkler, 1904; Schneider, 1916; Crepanov, 1955; Murai, 1964, 1968) which have been reviewed by Boratynski (1980).