Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Fagales > Betulaceae > Alnus alnobetula > Alnus alnobetula sinuata

Alnus alnobetula sinuata (Sitka alder)

Synonyms:

Attributes

Bloom Period [1]  Summer
Drought Tolerance [1]  Low
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [1]  High
Flower Type [2]  Monoecious
Frost Free Days [1]  90 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [1]  High
Fruit/Seed Begin [1]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [1]  Fall
Growth Form [1]  Multiple Stem
Growth Period [1]  Spring, Summer
Growth Rate [1]  Slow
Hazards [2]  The freshly harvested inner bark is emetic but is alright once it has been dried;
Leaf Type [2]  Deciduous
Lifespan [1]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Wind
Propagation [1]  Bare Root, Container, Seed
Root Depth [1]  10 inches (25 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [1]  Rapid
Seed Vigor [1]  High
Seeds Per [1]  665999 / lb (1468277 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [1]  Erect
Structure [2]  Shrub
Usage [2]  This is an excellent pioneer species for re-establishing woodlands on disused farmland, difficult sites etc; Its fast rate of growth means that it quickly provides sheltered conditions to allow more permanent woodland trees to become established. In addition, bacteria on the roots fix atmospheric nitrogen - whilst this enables the tree to grow well in quite poor soils it also makes some of this nitrogen available to other plants growing nearby. Alder trees also have a heavy leaf canopy and when the leaves fall in the autumn they help to build up the humus content of the soil. Alder seedlings do not compete well in shady woodland conditions and so this species gradually dies out as the other trees become established; The bark and the strobils are a source of tannin; The tree has an extensive root system and can be planted to control banks from erosion; Wood - soft, straight-grained, very durable in water; The tree is too small to be of use as a source of lumber, but the wood is used locally for fuel;
Vegetative Spread Rate [1]  None
Fall Conspicuous [1]  Yes
Fruit Conspicuous [1]  Yes
Height [2]  13.12 feet (4 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 2 Low Temperature: -50 F° (-45.6 C°) → -40 F° (-40 C°)
Light Preference [1]  Mixed Sun/Shade
Soil Acidity [1]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [1]  Infertile
Water Use [1]  High
Foliage Color [1]  Yellow
Fruit Color [1]  Brown
Screening - Summer [1]  Dense
Screening - Winter [1]  Porous
View Plants For A Future Record : Alnus alnobetula sinuata

Protected Areas

External References

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0