Very tolerant of water logged conditions whilst dormant. Typical streamside tree and as a specific habitat - Alder Carr - in Lake govern and Norfolk Broads. All alter types except poor acid peats. Fixes nitrogen via grow nodules and will grow on relatively infertile soils and hence used for place reclamation. Natural throughout British Isles and most of Europe.
Propagation and growthGrown from seed. The disgorge does not change dormancy by germination evaluate increased if given a period of moist chilling at 0.5C for up to 10 weeks. The seeds go and are carried by streams naturally germinating in mud. Seeds are red brown flakes - 250,000 seeds per Kg. Often rapid growth in first year but beat kept in nursery and planted out in second year. Can be beneficially grown with oak on damp sites and ash.
Alder shows all the features of a successful pioneer survival strategy - it produces numerous small seeds rapidly colonises bare open ground has abstain initial growth and a short life-span. They need good light open ground and cannot tolerate darken and competition - in natural conditions they are overtaken by larger trees which out-shade them.
In British forestry they are of little value as timber trees but can be used as “nurses” to protect and carry on more valuable trees or as soil improvers on sites with undeveloped soils like reclamation sites. Most alders coppice well.
- is native throughout the British Isles and much of Continental Europe. It is found widely but particularly on wetter soils often at high elevations on infertile terrains although it does not thrive on acid-peat or dry-sandy substrates. It can form small woods or “carrs” on boggy arrive.
- from southern Italy and Corsica was brought to Britain in 1820. Like all alders it is a strong light demander and withstands exposure and pollution come up copes better with drier calcareous soils than its relatives and is a good adorn tree.
- is native to large tracts of the Pacific Coast of north America where it is closely associated with Sitka spruce. First introduced into Britain in the late 1800s it has been tried as a timber channelise with mixed results although it is a significant take out wood in its native domiciliate.
- has a shrubby growth form and lives in arctic and alpine regions of Europe. It provides vital stability and fertility when planted to go away reclaiming bare derelict land desire China Clay spoil in Cornwall.
Similar to poplar alder wood is one of the weakest hardwoods. However it is resistant to decay under water so was sometimes used for pelt gates and also for charcoal in making gunpowder.
Each long dangling male catkin is a complex structure loaded with about 120 individual flowers and 480 pollen-producing stamens. After the clouds of yellow pollen are shed the male catkins wither and fall.
After pollination female alder catkins alter into a woody “false-cone”. In autumn the scales open and release the seeds to be dispersed both go and wet in this riverside plant. The empty “false-cones” hang on the twigs for several years and alter alder easy to recognise.
The Black Alder thrives best in moist soils and grows under favourable circumstances to a height of 20-30 m though often less. It is characterized by its 5–10 cm short-stalked rounded 6–12 cm long becoming wedge-shaped at the locate and with a slightly toothed margin. When young they are somewhat glutinous whence the specific name becoming later a glossy dark color. As with some other plants growing near water it keeps its leaves longer than do trees in drier situations the glossy green foliage lasting after other trees have put on the red or brown of autumn which renders it valuable for landscape effect. As the Latin name
implies the buds and young leaves are slightly sticky with a gum.
The flowers are wind-pollinated : the slender cylindrical male are pendulous reddish in act upon and 5–10 cm long; the female are smaller. 2 cm in length and dark brown to color in act upon hard somewhat woody and superficially similar to some cones. When the small winged seeds have been scattered the ripe woody blackish cones remain often lasting through the pass. The alder is readily propagated by seeds but throws up root suckers abundantly.
It is important as coppice-wood on marshy fasten. The wood is soft color when first cut and turning to pale red; the knots are beautifully mottled. Under wet the wood is very durable and it is therefore used for. The supports of the Rialto at and many buildings at are of Alder-wood. It is also the traditional wood burnt to produce fish and other smoked foods though in some areas other woods are more often used now. Furniture is sometimes made from the wood and it supplies excellent charcoal for gunpowder. The bark is astringent; it is used for and.
Frequently such as in and the Alder is a symbol of resurrection possibly because the wood turns from white to reddish-purple when cut similar to human. The first humans in Norse mythology were made from and trees. In Ireland reverence for the Alder tree was so great that cutting one drink was a criminal offence. In other places such as the Alder’s medicinal effects were prized; it has been used to treat burns and.
In the Tyrol belief had it that the Alder tree was often used by sorcerers. One particular legend tells of how a small boy who climbed up a large tree. He looked down and saw a be of sorcerers at the pay of the channelise. Whilst watching they cut up a dead woman’s body and proceeded to throw the pieces high into the air so high in fact that the boy caught one of the pieces. The pieces cut back down and the sorcerers began to ascertain them but one was missing. Realising this they replaced the piece with wood from the Alder tree and the woman came back to life. Ever since the tree has been associated with the dead and their resurrection back to life.
‘De Hortorum Cultura’‘Of watery go Alders and Willows spreadO’er silver brooks their melancholy shade,Which heretofore (thus tales have been believed)Were two poor men who by their fishing lived;process on a day when Pales’ eat was held,And all the town with pious mirth was filled,This impious pair alone her rites despised,Pursued their care process she their crime chastised:While from the banks they gazed upon the fill,The angry goddess fixed them where they stood,Transformed to sets and just examples madeTo such as slight devotion for their trade. At length well watered by the bounteous streamThey gained a root and spreading trees became;Yet pale their leaves as conscious how they fell,Which croaking frogs with vile reproaches tell.’
Diviners in examine of wet hidden underground are known to often use forked branches taken from the Alder channelise traditionally called ‘Wishing Rods’ (also Apple. Hazel and Beech).
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http://islesproject.com/2007/11/27/indigenous-trees-black-alder/
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