East Asian alder
Alnus japonica · Betulaceae · 오리나무
How to spot it
Winter buds are stalked and the one-year-old twigs have distinct lenticels.
Look
- Leaves
- Glossy on both sides; long elliptic, lanceolate-ovate or broadly lanceolate, 6 to 12 cm long, with fine teeth. Reddish-brown hairs tuft in the vein axils beneath, and the petiole is 2 to 4 cm.
- Flowers
- Blooms in early March to late April in catkins; male catkins hang down, and the perianth and stamens number four each.
- Fruit
- Fruit spikes (cones) are borne 2 to 6 together, long ovoid and 1.5 to 2.5 cm long. Seeds are flat, broadly elliptic or obovate, 3 to 4 mm long, with indistinct wings on both sides; the fruit (nutlet) ripens in October.
Where it grows
- In Korea
- Native
- Native to
- Russian Far East, Japan, China and the whole Korean Peninsula (mainly Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do).
- Ecology
- Grows in wet lowlands, river basins, valleys and lakeshores. Sun-loving, but grows well in shade when young; cold-hardy, resistant to air pollution and fast-growing.