Alnus serrulata

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Species Distribution Map
Family:BETULACEAE
Species:Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willd.
Common Name:Tag Alder; Hazel Alder; Brookside Alder
Habitat:Stream banks, swamps, margins of ponds, and wet roadside ditches.
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Shrub
Duration:Perennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:ALSE2
Plant Notes:Hazel Alder is a native deciduous shrub in the Birch family (Betulaceae). It is native to all of Alabama. Hazel Alder occurs along streams and rivers, in swamps and marshes, on the shores of ponds and lakes, and along wet roadside ditches. It is a deciduous multi-trunked shrub 10-30 feet in height. The bark is smooth and gray in color. The trunks are usually longitudinally fluted, and somewhat resemble those of the related Muscle Wood (Carpinus caroliniana Walter). The inner bark when exposed to the air becomes an orange color. Leaves are alternate, deciduous, elliptic to obovate in outline, with a toothed margin. The leaves are pubescent and resinous on the lower surface. Flowers are produced in the winter or very early spring, before the leaves are present. Flowers are produced in catkins and lack petals. Male catkins are drooping, 2-4 inches in length, and occur near the ends of branches in groups of 2-5. They are yellow or brownish yellow when the pollen is being released. Erect female catkins are produced individually at the tips of branches. They are 1/5-1/4 inch in length and red or purple in color. The female catkins develop into woody, bark brown, cone-like structures. Fruit are small, leathery, elliptic or obovate samaras. Hazel Alder is often planted for erosion control along streams. It has a symbiotic relationship with Frankia alni, a nitrogen fixing actinomycete. You might see a white, waxy fuzzy mass on the trunks of Hazel Alder. These are Woolly Alder Aphids in the subfamily Eriosomatinae. They are often quite conspicuous during the late fall and winter months. Hazel Alder bark has been used as a dye, and various other parts of the plant have been used in herbal medicine to alleviate pain, as a tonic or purgative, for coughs and fevers, for indigestion, and for other ailments.--A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Native, FACW+ (NWI), G5 (Global Rank)
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyBETULACEAE - Birch family
Genus Alnus
Species Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willd. - Tag Alder; Hazel Alder; Brookside Alder

Citation

Citation Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow, Sp. Pl. 4(1): 336. 1805.
Basionym: Betula serrulata Aiton 1789.
Type: USA: PENNSYLVANIA: "nat. of Pennsylvania. Cult. 1769 by Peter Collinson Esq." (holotype: BM).

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Alnus glutinosa var. serrulata Alnus glutinosa (Linnaeus) Gaertner, var. serrulata (Aiton) Regel, Mém. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 13(2): 164. 1861.Betula serrulata Aiton 1789. 
Alnus incana var. serrulata Alnus incana (Linnaeus) Moench, var. serrulata (Aiton) B. Boivin, Naturaliste Canad. 94: 651. 1967.Betula serrulata Aiton 1789. 
Alnus noveboracensis Alnus noveboracensis Britton, Torreya 4: 124. 1904. NEW YORK: Grant City, Staten Island, s.d., Britton s.n. (holotype: NY).
Alnus rugosa var. serrulata Alnus rugosa (Duroi) Sprengel, var. serrulata (Aiton) H. J. Winkler, in Engler, Pflanzenr. 4(Heft 19): 120. 1904.Betula serrulata Aiton 1789. 
Alnus serrulata var. vulgaris Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow, var. vulgaris Spach, Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., ser. 2.15: 206. 1841, nom. inadmiss.Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow 1805; Betula serrulata Aiton 1789. 
Alnus serrulata var. genuina Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow, var. genuina Regel, in de Candolle, Prodr. 16(2): 188. 1868, nom. inadmiss.Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow 1805; Betula serrulata Aiton 1789. 
Betula serrulata Betula serrulata Aiton, Hort. Kew. 3: 338. 1789. PENNSYLVANIA: "nat. of Pennsylvania. Cult. 1769 by Peter Collinson Esq." (holotype: BM).
Alnus rugosa    
Alnus serrulata var. subelliptica Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow, var. subelliptica Fernald, Rhodora 47: 358. 1945. MASSACHUSETTS: Middlesex Co.: Tewksbury, 14 Apr, 14 Oct 1906, Fernald & Bartlett 16 (holotype: GH; isotypes: CAN, F, NY, US, WIS).

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Colbert, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Cullman, Dale, DeKalb, Elmore, Escambia, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Geneva, Greene, Hale, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Lowndes, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Washington, Wilcox, Winston

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AMAL, AUA, JSU, SAMF, TROY, UNA, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1949 - 2019

Barcode / Accession No.
County
Coll. Date
Collector &
Collection No.
Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used
Image
AUA000009474 Autauga 4 Aug 1969 OWENS, JAMES R.
94		 AUA
ALNUS SERRULATA (AIT.) WILLD.
AUA000009475 Autauga 27 Sep 1975 DUPREE, W.G.
10		 AUA
ALNUS SERRULATA (AIT.) WILLD.
UNA00032837 Autauga 11 Aug 1978 Davenport, Lawrence J.
737		 UNA
Alnus serrulata (Ait.) Willd.
AUA000009473 Autauga 25 Oct 1987 DIAMOND, JR., ALVIN R.
3751		 AUA
ALNUS SERRULATA (AIT.) WILLD.
UWAL0046622 Autauga 15 Sep 2016 Parker, Matthew R.
65		 UWAL
Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow
TROY000045694 Autauga 15 Sep 2016 Parker, Matthew R.
65		 TROY
Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow
TROY000048774 Autauga 13 Oct 2016 Parker, Matthew R.
178		 TROY
Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow
UWAL0046116 Autauga 13 Oct 2016 Parker, Matthew R.
178		 UWAL
Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow
UWAL0046036 Autauga 03 Nov 2016 Parker, Matthew R.
248		 UWAL
Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow
TROY000048814 Autauga 03 Nov 2016 Parker, Matthew R.
248		 TROY
Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow
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