Plantae>Magnoliophyta>Magnoliopsida>Fagales>Betulaceae>Alnus serrulata (Ait.) Willd.
| Hazel Alder is common small tree or large shrub of streamsides and wetlands. Wake Co., NC 5/30/2011. |
| The simple, alternate, toothed leaves have distinctive impressed parallel veins. Wake Co., NC 5/30/2011. |
| Leaf underside, showing the prominent straight veins. Wake Co., NC 5/30/2011. |
| Pender Co., NC 4/19/09. |
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| The fruits ripen in late fall. Durham Co., NC 11/3/02. |
| The fruiting structures persist throughout the winter, looking a bit like miniature pine cones. Pender Co., NC 4/19/09. |
| Scotland Co., NC 11/1/08. |
| Scotland Co., NC 11/1/08. |
| Wake Co., NC 5/30/2011. |
| Carroll Co., VA 4/10/2011. |
| Pistillate (female) flower buds. Carroll Co., VA 4/10/2011. |
| Male catkins form in the fall. Scotland Co., NC 11/1/08. |
| Hazel Alder is one of our first trees to flower. The long male catkins are hanging down, while the reddish female flowers at the end of the branches point up. New Hope Creek, Orange Co., NC 2/23/08. |
| Female flowers. New Hope Creek, Orange Co., NC 2/23/08. |
| Male catkins with last year's "cones". New Hope Creek, Orange Co., NC 2/23/08. |
| New Hope Creek, Orange Co., NC 2/23/08. |
| Bud and leaf scar detail. New Hope Creek, Orange Co., NC 2/23/08. |
| Hazel Alder is most often encountered as a large shrub growing at the water's edge. New Hope Creek, Orange Co., NC 2/23/08. |
| New Hope Creek, Orange Co., NC 2/23/08. |
More information:
Trees of Alabama and the Southeast
Missouri Plants
Trees of the Maritime Forest
Virginia Tech Dendrology
Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
cwcook@duke.eduAll photographs and text ©2011 by Will Cook unless otherwise noted