The Black Alder
Posted: Monday, September 21, 2009
by Dennis Sons
tn nursery
Alnus glutinosa is commonly known as the Black Alder, Common Alder or European Alder. This is an alder tree that is native to most of Europe, including Fennoscandia and the British Isles and can also be found in southwest Asia .
The Black Alder belongs to the birch family of trees, Betulaceae. Similar to other birches, this tree is a pioneer species. It grows quite rapidly but is short-lived, having a maximum life span of generally one hundred and fifty years.
Alder trees have a dark grey, fissured bark as they grow older. The younger branches are smooth and have a light green color. The branches reach up in their growth, and it is common to see trees that have two of three main trunks. The twigs of the tree are sometimes sticky.
It is a deciduous tree, and the new leaves come about in April. They can be up to ten centimetres in size, have a waved margin and are circular in shape. The leaves have teeth that are irregular and shallow and these leaves stay on the tree until late Autumn. They do not change color too dramatically, though. They tend to simply darken and then wither before they fall away towards late October or November.
Growth
This tree thrives in moist soils and under favorable conditions it can grow to exceptional heights of seventy meters, though it is usually less. When these trees are young they are rather glutinous and then later become a dark, glossy, green color. Similar to other plants that grow near water, it keeps its leaves longer than most trees do in dry situations. This allows the glossy green leaves to keep their color long after most other trees have already turned red or brown due to autumn, which makes this tree invaluable when it comes to landscaping.
Flowers and fruits
This species of tree is monoecious, so both male and female flowers are on the same tree. The male catkins are pendulous and have a reddish color. The female catkins are smaller than the males and are black to dark brown in color. They are hard and somewhat woody and similar to conifer cones. These catkins are wind-pollinated.
Uses
The Black Alder has many uses, mainly due to its wood and bark. The wood is soft and white when it is first cut and then turns to pale red. This color is attractive for use and is therefore used a lot for the manufacture of furniture.
This tree is quite important as coppice-wood, particularly in marshy ground. The wood is very durable, even under water, which is why it is used for piles. The Rialto in Venice has supports made out of this wood and several buildings in Amsterdam are made of Alder wood, due to its hardiness and resistance to extreme conditions.
This wood is traditionally used to make smoked foods, such as smoked salmon, although there are other woods that are being used in its place as well. The strong bark is used for dyeing and tanning.
This Article has been viewed 222 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.