European Black Alder - Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.
Birch Family: Betulaceae
Height: to 60 feet / USDA zones 4-7
  European Black Alder
This European Black Alder was started from seed 25 years ago.
European Black Alder, a native of Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, was introduced to North America long ago and has escaped from cultivation, and it is sometimes seen along bodies of water, where it may successfully self-sow and form pure stands. Today, it is grown as a shade tree in urban areas, or at wet sites (ponds, creeks, drainage ditches, etc.) where it thrives and provides both erosion control and ornamental appeal.

European Black Alder is adaptable to a wide range of favorable or harsh environmental conditions. It prefers moist to wet soils of variable pH that are rich and deep, but adapts to average or poor soils that are dry in summer. Growth is especially rapid in occasionally wet to permanently wet areas, such as floodplains , streambanks, and ditches.
European Black Alder has a leaf that is atypical as compared to other Alders in that it is round in shape, rather than elliptical. In addition, some leaves have a distinct notch at the apex, which is not obvious until the leaves are fully expanded.

Economic importance:

 
Native:
  • AFRICA
    Northern Africa: Algeria; Morocco; Tunisia
  • ASIA-TEMPERATE
    Western Asia: Iran; Turkey
    Caucasus: Russian Federation - Ciscaucasia
    Siberia: Russian Federation - Western Siberia
    Soviet Middle Asia: Kazakhstan
  • EUROPE
    Northern Europe: Denmark; Finland; Ireland; Norway; Sweden; United Kingdom
    Middle Europe: Austria; Belgium; Czechoslovakia; Germany; Hungary; Netherlands; Poland; Switzerland
    East Europe: Belarus; Russian Federation - European part; Ukraine [incl. Krym]
    Southeastern Europe: Albania; Bulgaria; Greece; Italy; Romania; Yugoslavia
    Southwestern Europe: France; Portugal; Spain

Common names:

Synonyms:

 

Black Alder Bark

The Invasive Plant Atlas of New England (IPANE) , says "(Alnus glutinosa) bark is smooth and dark brown. With age, the bark can show some shallow fissures." The error is rebroadcast at the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation Natural Resources website.
 
 


Black Alder strobiles
The fertilized female flowers become cone-like, green fruits by late spring, and as they grow throughout the summer, they often weigh down the branches that support them. In autumn, the seeds are released as the cones open and the remaining structures (called strobiles) persist on the twigs.

References
1. USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?2448 (31 May 2008)