speckled alder leaf

How do I identify an alder tree?

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.

Are alder leaves edible?

Eating Alder: Alder catkins are high in protein and are used as a survival food. ... The bark is most commonly used, but the leaf buds, mature leaves, male catkins, and female green catkins are also medicinal.

What is the difference between alder and elder trees?

It grows faster than the common alder and can reach 100ft tall. ... 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.

Is alder wood poisonous?

Allergies/Toxicity: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, alder in the Alnus genus has been reported to cause eye, skin, and respiratory irritation. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

What is the difference between alder and birch?

Young alder trees have grey-green, smooth bark. Mature alder trees have darker bark that is either fissured or flaky. Birch has thin and smooth bark that is nearly black-colored in young trees. ... They produce individual male and female flowers (called catkins) on the same tree.

Is Alder the same as Poplar?

Alder is generally considered to be one of the "traditional" Stratocaster body woods. ... It is often considered as the other "traditional" Stratocaster body wood. Poplar: one of the softer hardwoods, nicely resonant with a meaty tone.

What is Alder 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 are alder trees good for?

The wood of certain alder species is often used to smoke various food items such as coffee, salmon, and other seafood. Most of the pilings that form the foundation of Venice were made from alder trees. Alder bark contains the anti-inflammatory salicin, which is metabolized into salicylic acid in the body.

Can you eat alder berries?

Its berries are eaten by birds (especially robins and thrushes) and it is known to attract wildlife. ... Birds nest in its branches. The alder buckthorn increases wildlife where it is present. This is a poisonous plant to humans but its bark has been used medicinally as a purgative laxative when prepared properly.

Is Alder rot resistant?

Rot Resistance: Red alder is rated non-durable to perishable regarding decay resistance, and freshly cut logs should be quickly converted into lumber and dried to prevent staining or decay in the wood. ... The wood is rather soft, however, and care must be taken to avoid denting it in some applications.

What does a tag alder tree look like?

Identification hints

Tag alder is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with brownish gray bark. The leaves alternate along the twigs and are simple, oval, and doubly serrated (toothed). The leaves are 2 to 4 in long, dull dark green above, paler and may be velvety below, with prominent, parallel veins.

How long does an alder tree live?

The bark of alder trees is dark and fissured and is often covered in lichen. Alder trees grow in a conical shape. Conical in shape, mature trees can reach a height of around 28m and live to approximately 60 years.

Is Alder an expensive wood?

Cost. One of the biggest benefits of alder wood is the cost. It's not quite as cheap as it used to be when it was referred to as "poor man's cherry," but there's still a considerable price difference between it and more expensive hardwoods, such as mahogany. Alder is about in the middle of the road of hardwood prices.

What is red alder used for?

Wood and fiber: Red alder wood is used in the production of wooden products such as food dishes, furniture, sashes, doors, millwork, cabinets, paneling and brush handles. It is also used in fiber-based products such as tissue and writing paper. In Washington and Oregon, it was largely used for smoking salmon.

Is Alder good for outdoor use?

Alder is known for its durability and strength. It holds paint or stain well, and also looks good in its natural, honey-like color. ... Mahogany: An extremely hard, tight-grained wood with a deep, red-brown color. It resists shrinking, splintering, and checking, which makes mahogany a perfect wood for outdoor furniture.

How good is alder for firewood?

Seasoned alder firewood burns relatively fast but creates a hot fire with decent coals. Many people choose to burn the wood during the fall or spring when the outside temperatures are moderate. Or you can mix the wood in with other dense hardwoods like oak, maple or beech.

How hard is alder wood?

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.

Where do knotty alder trees grow?

Knotty Alder wood comes from a relatively small tree grown here in North America that gets to be about 50 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 15 inches. 20 years ago, not many people had heard of this lumber, but today knotty alder is quickly growing in popularity.

Is Poplar heavier than Alder?

Re: Alder vs Poplar

One is so heavy that I just don't play it anymore. Every alder body I've used, however, is significantly lighter than any of the poplar bodies I've used. In my experience, though, poplar and alder sound almost identical, regardless of weight.

Is Basswood heavier than Alder?

Basswood is usually lighter than alder. Alder is usually lighter than northern ash, but swamp ash is usually lighter than alder.

Is basswood and poplar the same?

Re: Basswood vs Poplar? They're both pretty squishy, as hardwoods go. But, Poplar's the harder of the two. Basswood is more like pine, only 100% softer.