Sticky alder (black) - Alnus glutinosa. О. gray - A. incana. Birch family - Betulaceae.
"In our Polesie, alder is the first tree: wherever you go, you will meet it everywhere. We tried on alder for the harvest and summer. If birch before alder has spread its leaf - the summer will be dry, if alder ahead - wet..." (В. Sushenya). The alder is also notable as a primrose tree.
The snow in the ravines is still glowing,
There's still ice on the rivers,
The alder blooms in the month of April
The alder blooms in April
Though she be unremarkable,
She's not slender, she's not beautiful,
But she is the first color
In the forest alone, the spring is her first color.
В. Kulagin
The ecology of sticky alder and gray alder are each different, but both bloom early. And their morphology is somewhat different. Black alder is a typical moisture-lover: it grows along wet river and lake banks, in valleys, in places where groundwater comes out. It is an edificator of forest bogs, which in Belarus are called ols, and in science - black alder forests. It is these that are linked by a continuous line of development to the Tertiary bogs. This is also evidenced by heat-loving species, which are common on alders even nowadays: iris-cassate, poisonous vetch, cloudberry.
It is not uncommon for black alder to grow with other trees: spruce, pine, birch. Black alder is found almost all over the European part of the country, except for tundras and deserts; it also enters Western Siberia. But the real kingdom of black alder is in Polesie. Before the continuous melioration, alders were very diverse: with nettle, tavolga, whitefly, sweet-bitter nightshade and other nitrophilous plants in the grass layer. The trees reach 20-30 m in the alders. In more northern conditions the height is already lower: 10-15 m. Its leaves are rounded-obovate, glabrous and sticky. Young branches and buds are also bare, while trunks have dark brown bark.
Gray alder has a similar ecology, but the amplitude is wider: it is common in swamps and forests, in clearings and burned areas. As a pioneer breed, it quickly occupies vacated habitats. The range of the gray alder is also European, but it goes farther north than the black alder. In the Caucasus, it rises to a height of 2000 m along river valleys. Gray alder is a tree, but lower (average 5-12 m), often grows and bush - many trunks from the root neck. Its leaves are smaller and pointed at the upper end: and also densely pubescent. The young twigs are also downy with gray felt, and the trunks are smooth, gray. Alder trees are wind-pollinated plants.
...The alder tree is looking in the mirror,
With earrings in bloom, a nice update!
Not a lilac, but still not bad.
Lilacs when? I'm ready.
Earrings of delicate gold shine through,
The golden blossoms fly in the wind.
The earth is black, but its wedding dress
It is pure, fragrant and colorful.
Hanging long earrings in a row,
♪ They're getting restless ♪ Ten centimeters each.
Pollen swollen.
Thirsty.
They're waiting.
They want the program.
В. Soloukhin
In early spring, the snow has not yet completely melted, and the long earrings of alder, swaying in the wind, throw out clouds of pollen, carried far away. Other trees don't have leaves yet, and there's nothing to stop the light pollen from flying far and wide. For alder, long-distance pollen dispersal is biologically very advantageous. Pollination of far-flung trees occurs, and hence the renewal and strengthening of populations. All alder trees are valued as soil-improving species. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria settle on their roots, assimilating free nitrogen from the air. Therefore, alder forests are famous for their rich floristic composition and exuberance of forms.
The alder tree is also known as a medicinal plant (we are talking about two species at once, since their medicinal properties and actions on the body, although not literally, but similar). Medicinal raw materials of alder are almost all parts: leaves, bark, inflorescences, roots. But the main raw material is "alder cones". They are woody copepods harvested in winter. Their yield, for example, in Belarus ranges from 10 to 500 kg/ha. A detailed study in the cones found flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, higher fatty acids, phenolcarboxylic acids; in the bark - essential oil, tannins and coloring substances, vitamin PP, triterpenoids; in the leaves - protein, fat, vitamin C, carotene, flavonoids, resins, tannins and bitter substances. Of course, the chemical composition of the two species of alder is somewhat different, but there is a lot in common.
Alder cones are used as a diuretic, diaphoretic (for colds), gastrointestinal disorders (enteritis, colitis, dysentery). A dry extract, thmelin, used for gastrointestinal diseases, is prepared from the sap. Equally effective is the bark. Infusion of alder - a good diaphoretic, as well as astringent and anti-inflammatory agent for diseases of the stomach and intestines. Used alder and in bleeding from the intestines. Infusion of alder bark gargle sore throat, wash wounds, burns, ulcers. A weak infusion of alder leaves helps with sore throat, intestinal diseases, rheumatism, gout. The presence of the bitter substance salicin is the basis for the use of the leaves as a laxative. The inflorescences of alder have good antiestocidal property.
Folk medicine has long considered the alder tree an excellent healer of disorders of stomach and intestinal functions. Alder is used for poisoning by plant poisons, diathesis and children's eczema. Flower earrings infused in vodka are recommended for hemorrhoids and constipation. It is believed that if a person with a cold is wrapped in alder leaves moistened with warm water, the cold quickly passes. Young alder leaves are also used to treat purulent wounds and scabs.
The wood of black alder is very valuable. It is light red, lightweight and quite strong, water resistant and will not rot in water. Therefore, it is used to make various hydraulic structures, but it is also used in carpentry and furniture making, turning, plywood, bobbins and shuttles for the textile industry. Alder is also good as an insulating material in electrical engineering. The husk is used to make rope, and the bark, wood and cones are used for tanning leather and making dye (black, red, gray, yellow). Alder wood is considered the best for smoking fish as it produces little soot.
In the Far East, Japanese alder, downy alder and Siberian alder are used instead of European species. Bearded alder, a thermophilic tertiary relict widespread in Transcaucasia, is very interesting. In Colchis there are still preserved areas of forest bogs where bearded alder alone or in mixture with lapina is an edifier. These bogs are located in the coastal strip of the Black Sea and are famous for their thick layers of peat deposits. In the tree tier there are also other species: ash, beech, hornbeam, poplar, many lianas. The shrub and herb tier is very rich in species. The bearded alder tree is also found in a number of places in Transcaucasia (Lankaran, Talysh), where it rises in the mountains up to a height of 1500 meters. As a medicinal plant, bearded alder resembles black alder and gray alder in many ways. Its burls are very highly prized in turning; the wood is used in building underground and underwater structures, and the bark and copepods are used for tanning and dyeing..
