Alnus serrulata (Smooth Alder)

Alnus serrulata

Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willd.

Alnus incana (L.) Moench var. serrulata (Aiton) B. Boivin

Alnus noveboracensis Britton

Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willd. var. subelliptica Fernald

Smooth Alder, Hazel Alder

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Rosidae	Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more
Order	Fagales	Birch, she-oak, beech, walnut, bayberry, others
Family	Betulaceae	Birch family: birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams and hop-hornbeams
Genus	Alnus	Alders ("alnus" means "alder")
Species	serrulata

About plant names...

Smooth alders are usually small, somewhat disheveled looking trees, with many trunks and branches that sometimes seem to form an impenetrable thicket. As a group, alders’ most prominent feature is the small cone-like fruits, which remain on the tree through the winter. They are common at the edge of water, and in areas that are wet in the spring.

9/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, MA
≈ 6 × 4" (15 × 10 cm) ID is tentative or incomplete

Species	”Cones”	Flowers	Leaves	Trunk
Alnus serrulata	On long thin stalks, ½-⅝" (1.3-1.6 cm) long	Bright yellow in spring, male catkins green-brown, female flowers about ½" (1.3 cm)	2-4" (5-10 cm), rounded edges or small serrations, dark greeen above, paler and with fine hairs below	Speckled with horizontal lens-shaped spots, up to 20' (6.1 m)
Alnus incana	On short stalks	Male flowers 2½-5" (6.3-12 cm) long, hanging downward, female flowers about ½" (1.3 cm) around	Oval-shaped, 2½-5" (6.3-12 cm) long, 2-4" (5-10 cm) wide	Speckled with horizontal lens-shaped spots
Alnus viridis	Bunched up	Male flowers about 2" (5 cm), female flowers point up, about ½" (1.3 cm)	Relatively large serrations	Has diamond-shaped patches

Online References:

Alnus serrulata on Will Cook's site at Duke University

Alnus serrulata on Missouriplants.com

Alnus serrulata on the Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation

Alnus serrulata on Erv Evans' site at the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Alnus serrulata at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Alnus serrulata on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Alnus serrulata on eFloras

References:

Sibley, David Allen, The Sibley Guide to Trees, Alfred A. Knopf, 2009, pp. 159-165

Little, Elbert L., National Audabon Society Field Guide to North American Trees, Eastern Region, Alfred A. Knopf, 1980, p. 363-4

9/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, MA
≈ 5 × 3½" (13 × 9.2 cm) ID is tentative or incomplete

12/23/2009 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, MA
≈ 15 × 10" (37 × 25 cm)

Alnus serrulata description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 19 Feb 2012.

9/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, MA
≈ 4 × 6" (10 × 15 cm) ID is tentative or incomplete

Range:

About this map...