Common Name: alder
Type: Tree
Family: Betulaceae
Native Range: Japan, Korea, Russian Far East
Zone: 4 to 8
Height: 3.00 to 30.00 feet
Spread: 3.00 to 20.00 feet
Bloom Time: May to June
Bloom Description: Female catkins are dark red to maroon, male catkins are pale yellowish-green
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Flower: Insignificant
Tolerate: Clay Soil, Wet Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil
Culture
Best grown in evenly moist, well-draining, gritty or sandy loams in full sun. Tolerant of a wide range of soil types including rocky, clayey, and wet soils. Hardy in Zones 4-8.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Alnus maximowiczii is a shrub or small deciduous tree native to the high mountains of Japan, Korea, and parts of far eastern Russia including the Kamchatka Penninsula, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. Mature plants can reach around 30' tall but are often shorter with a shrubby, densely branched growth habit. Plants may only reach 3-10' tall in upland boreal and subalpine habitats. The foliage is ovate to slightly rounded in shape with finely serrated margins and will reach 2.5-4" long and 1.5-2.75" wide. The minute, apetalous flowers are held in separate male and female catkins. Upright, raceme-like clusters of 0.5" long, dark red to maroon, ellipsoid, female catkins emerge from the ends of the branches in late spring to early summer. Pendulous, 2" long male catkins hang below the female catkins. The female catkins mature to form dark brown, woody, cone-like structures which hold the small, light brown samaras (winged seeds).
Genus name is the Latin name for alder.
The specific epithet maximowiczii honors Karl Maximovich (1827-1891), Russian botanist who traveled extensively in eastern Asia, studying the flora of China, Korea, and Japan. He worked at the Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden first as the herbarium curator and later the Director.
Problems
Sapsuckers such as alder suckers and woolly alder aphids may appear. Watch for stem or trunk cankers.
Uses
Shrub or small tree for mixed borders.