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Alnus serrulata
Also called Brookside alder, Common alder, Smooth alder, Tag alder, Brook Side Alder
Alnus serrulata, the hazel alder or smooth alder, is a thicket-forming shrub in the family Betulaceae. It is native to eastern North America and can be found from western Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick south to Florida and Texas.
Alnus serrulata can be found in habitats such as streambanks, riversides, and swamps. Water use is high and it requires sun or part-sun. It also requires moist soil that has a pH of 6.8–7.2. Alnus serrulata needs 5–10-foot spacing in wildlife habitat.
Alnus serrulata is mainly located in eastern North America. It ranges from Maine to Northern Florida, west to southeastern Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois. It also grows along the Mississippi River. It is not present in northern New Hampshire and Vermont. Smooth alder is classified as an facultative wetland species in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains and an obligate wetland species in the North and Midwest.
Because the plant resides in riversides or stream streambanks, it usually functions as a stabilizer and restorer for those habitats. It is also used to treat astringent, diuretic, emetic, ophthalmic, and purgative symptoms. A tea made from the bark was used by Native Americans as a treatment for diarrhea, coughs, toothaches, sore mouth, and the pain of birth. It has also been used as a treatment for acne in the form of a skin wash. An extract from the bark was used as an orange dye.
Andean Alder · Green Alder · Italian Alder · Alnus cremastogyne · Japanese Green Alder · Formosan alder · Common Alder · Manchurian Alder · Grey Alder · Japanese alder · Evergreen alder · Iberian Alder
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Alnus serrulata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
