Hazel Alder aka Tag Alder (Alnus serrulata)
Height: 10 to 25 feet
Spread: 8 to 15 feet
Bloom Time: March to April
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Suggested Use: Naturalize and Rain Gardens
Maintenance: Low
Tolerate: Clay Soils, Wet Soils
Native to: Jefferson County
The Hazel Alder is a pathfinder, going where no other plants want to go and makes everywhere it touches better.
This multi-trunked understory tree is an underappreciated powerhouse that serves a great purpose. The species can go into the most hostile and wet conditions and stabilize stream banks and thrive in boggy areas. The tree also produces shoots that arise from the root system, which enables it to spread in suitable areas.
Perhaps most importantly, tag alder is a nitrogen-fixing species, like eastern redbud trees (Cercis canadensis) and black locust trees (Robinia pseudoacacia). Meaning that the tree draws nitrogen from the air and store it in their root systems. This enables the trees to live in areas with poor soils – such as near wetlands and allows the other plants in the area to pull the nitrogen from the ground to survive.
Hazel Alders were found in great abundance around the Ohio River valley. The Lenape used the tree as a tea made from the bark as a treatment for diarrhea, coughs, toothaches, sore mouth, and the pain of birth. The early settlers in the Jefferson County and the surrounding area found the tree prolifically growing on some stream banks and named the waterways after them putting Alder Lick and Alder Run on the map.
Trunks feature smooth gray bark. Flowers appear as catkins before the leaves and provide a dramatic display in the barren woods. Flowers give way to a 1 inch long fruiting cone that will persist through winter if not disturbed. The leaves have a rich texture and provide a dense backdrop in the landscape. For those with a love of pruning the Hazel Alder can stand coppicing.
Hazel Alder is a host plant to 188 species of butterflies and moths; including the magnificent Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and Luna Moth. The Hazel Alder is an extremely early source of pollen bees and all pollinators. ■
