This tree is up to 20 meters high and belongs to the birch family. The trunk of an alder can have a curved shape, rarely even, with a diameter of about 50 cm. It can reach the age of 50-60 years, it is hygrophilous and shade-tolerant, but it develops better in areas that have a lot of light. Often found as a bush. It grows rapidly, especially in the first 15 years of life. It has oval leaves up to 10 centimeters long, green above and light green below. It begins to bloom in March-April, before the leaves bloom, with female and male flowers, in the form of earrings. Female earrings ripen by autumn and form hard cones, in which there are nuts with wings 1 cm long and 0.7-0.8 cm wide. Alder bears fruit annually and abundantly. The tree has a shallow root system.
Alder gray is distributed practically throughout Europe, Asia Minor, North America. Grows in areas with well-moist, calcareous soil. Hardy, drought hard. Her favorite places are the places located along the river banks, along the streams, as well as swampy soils. Its neighbors can be black alder and willow. Due to regular fruiting, it very quickly populates empty areas, arable land, felling. At the sites of felling, it forms temporary plantings that have a beneficial effect on the soil. Gray alder is capable of enriching the earth with nitrogen, and many microorganisms settle in the root system that assimilate this nitrogen. Fallen leaves, rich in nitrates, act no less fruitfully on the soil.
Application in medicine
Traditional medicine exploits the bark, cones and leaves of gray alder for medicinal purposes. The preparations that make up the extracts of this plant are used for joint diseases, colds, and gout. Alder fruits, as an astringent, are used for stomach diseases, enteritis, colitis. The composition of the fruits and bark of this tree includes tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, fatty oils, steroids, triterpenoids.
Official medicine uses alder preparations as a hemostatic effect and an astringent. Decoctions from bark, leaves and cones have a curative effect on articular rheumatism, colds and children's diarrhea. Such decoctions have an antimicrobial process and are used for rheumatic polyarthritis.
Collection of alder seedlings is carried out in the autumn-winter period. This is done as follows: the pruning shears cut off alder branches from which the seedlings hang. Parts of the branches are removed, leaving only cones, and dried indoors. The moisture content of the dried raw materials should not exceed 12%. The harvesting operation should be done very carefully, since the contents of the cones can spill out during harvesting and the harvested raw materials will not be of high quality.
The use of alder wood
Alder wood does not have high strength, but it has a number of distinctive characteristics, which determined the area of its application:
- it does not crack when dried, and it is successfully used for the production of musical instruments.
- its wood is soft and pliable, and therefore sculptures are carved out of it, dishes and decorative panels are made. Artists use alder coals to paint their paintings.
- after processing its wood with ammonia or drying oil, it acquires a beautiful shade. This property is used for the manufacture of decorative furniture.
- after keeping it in water for a certain time, it becomes very durable and practically does not decay with excess moisture. In this case, it is used for the construction of wells and other underwater structures, as well as for the manufacture of barrels.
- dyes are obtained from its bark.
- alder firewood has good heat transfer and in the past they were called "royal".
- firewood and sawdust are successfully used in cooking, for smoking meat and fish. Here alder firewood surpasses the rest in its characteristics.
- Alder flakes are the best packaging material for fruits.
Alder species
There are more than 30 species of alder in the world in the form of trees and shrubs.
Black alder (sticky). It has sticky young shoots and buds, which determined its second name. Moisture-loving plant up to 35 meters high, demanding on the soil. It has no root processes. Black alder practically does not grow in swamps, as it needs running water.
Alder is gray. The leaves of this alder are similar to the leaves of a birch. It is not as tall as black alder, and grows up to 20 meters in height, but has root shoots.
Alder is green. Alpine type of alder, very peculiar. Many tourists do not notice this plant due to its small growth. This is not a tree, but a low-lying shrub. It is frost-resistant and shade-tolerant, grows quickly and is not demanding on the composition of the soil. This shrub is eaten by sheep with pleasure.
