What is the difference between alder and elder trees?

Is alder the same as elder?

Of all the 35 different species of alder, A. … Alders may be an acquired taste in the garden, but the elder is much more common. Like the alder, it is by no means glamorous, being a scruffy, shrubby kind of tree, but it has real magic.

How do I identify an alder tree?

Alder Tree Identification

Alder trees are easily identified by their brown hard, cone-like strobiles that dangle from bare brown-purple twigs that have orange markings. You can also spot alder trees by their light gray bark and orange-brown drooping flowers.

What is another name for alder wood?

Owing to its malleable texture, the wood is commonly known as a semi-hardwood. It is interesting to note that this light-brown wood with striking grain patterns came into limelight as a more affordable alternative to cherry wood, and that’s exactly how alder wood got its common name “poor man’s cherry”.

What alder trees look like?

The easiest way of recognizing an alder tree is by its distinctive little fruiting body, called a strobile. They appear in fall and look like 1 inch (2.5 cm.) long cones. Strobiles remain on the tree until the following spring, and the small, nutlike seeds they contain supply winter food for birds and small mammals.

Is Elder a tree or a shrub?

Elder is an opportunistic shrub of woods, hedges, scrub, waste and cultivated ground. Its flowers and berries are edible, but it’s best to gather wild food with an expert – try it at a Wildlife Trust event.

Is Elder Wood real?

Elder wood is hard and yellow-white. … Elder is a popular small tree for gardens, and many cultivated varieties exist with different coloured foliage and flowers.

How big do elder trees get?

The American elder grows to a height of 5–12′ and a spread of 5–12′ at maturity.

Is an alder tree suitable for a small garden?

Alder has clusters of cone-like fruits that hang like baubles on bare winter trees. In spring, yellow catkins appear alongside glossy, rounded leaves. Height: 18-25m. Good for smaller gardens.

Are birch and alder the same?

Alders and birches are both in the birch family (Betulaceae). You might say they’re cousins — different genera, with alders in the genus Alnus and birches in Betula.

What are alder trees good for?

What is Alder Wood Used For? Most of the higher grade lumber is used for furniture, cabinetry, and turned products. Alder is also used in doors, millwork, decorative woodwork, carvings, and edge-glued panels. Alder dries to an even honey tone and can be finished to resemble more expensive fine-grained species.

What tree does alder wood come from?

Alders are trees comprising the genus Alnus in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species extending into Central America, as well as the northern and southern Andes.

Is alder a pine?

Although classified as a hardwood, alder is one of the softest of all hardwoods and is more commonly referred to as a semi-hardwood. On a hardness scale, alder ranks just above pine and poplar. Alder has a light brown color with subtle grain patterns that are straighter than other hardwoods, such as oak or ash.

Is Alder a good landscape tree?

Alder trees are seldom seen in residential landscapes, but these handsome plants make excellent shade trees and screening shrubs.

Do alder trees fall easily?

It is normal far small, and even fairly large, branches to die and drop, especially in alders. Healthy trees rarely just up and fall over, but a bad storm or combination of weather events can knock even a healthy tree over.

Is Alder an invasive species?

Invasive impacts

Black alder has been known to establish single species colonies as a result of its fast growth rate and high rate of seed production, out-competing native trees and other plants. Black alder is also known to change wetland ecosystems in a number of ways.