Alnus cordata Desf.

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Credits

Tim Baxter & Hugh A. McAllister (2021)

Recommended citation
Baxter, T. & McAllister, H.A. (2021), 'Alnus cordata' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/alnus/alnus-cordata/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

Genus

Common Names

  • Italian Alder

Glossary

apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
lustrous
Smooth and shiny.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
raceme
Unbranched inflorescence with flowers produced laterally usually with a pedicel. racemose In form of raceme.
viscid
Sticky.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Tim Baxter & Hugh A. McAllister (2021)

Recommended citation
Baxter, T. & McAllister, H.A. (2021), 'Alnus cordata' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/alnus/alnus-cordata/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

A tree 80 ft high, of pyramidal habit; young shoots glabrous, viscid, angled; winter buds stalked. Leaves roundish to broadly ovate, usually deeply notched at the base, shortly and abruptly pointed or rounded at the apex, 112 to 4 in. long, from three-fourths to as much wide; finely and simply toothed; upper surface glabrous, dark lustrous green; lower one paler and also glabrous, except for tufts of brownish down in the vein-axils; leaf-stalk slender, 12 to 112 in. long, glabrous. Male catkins three to six, in a terminal zigzag raceme, each catkin 2 to 3 in. long, expanding in March. Fruit erect, egg-shaped, 1 to 114 in. long and 58 to 34 in. wide, mostly in threes. Bot. Mag., t. 8658.

Native of Corsica and S. Italy; said to have been introduced in 1820. Undoubtedly one of the handsomest of the alders, this tree is not planted enough. Although it thrives on poor and dryish soil, and even on chalk, it is more at home near water. Its deeply heart-shaped, glistening leaves and large fruits (larger than those of any other species in cultivation) make it very distinct. From A. subcordata it is distinguished by its shorter male catkins, and by several other points mentioned under that species.

A fine pyramidal tree on the banks of the pond at Kew died in 1959, after attaining a height of about 70 ft. The tallest recorded in England grows at Westonbirt, Glos., and measured 90 × 8 ft in 1963, but this is almost equalled in height by a tree at Smeaton Hepburn, E. Lothian. There are several good specimens in Battersea Park, London.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

specimens: Battersea Park, London, 66 × 712 ft and 62 × 8 ft (1983); Marble Hill Park, London, 98 × 7 ft (1983); Borde Hill, Sussex, 85 × 712 ft (1984); National Pinetum, Bedgebury, Kent, 75 × 712 ft (1983); Canterbury Cathedral, 66 × 912 ft (1984); St Osyth’s Priory, Essex, 62 × 814 ft (1984); Oxford Botanic Garden, pl. 1930, 72 × 612 ft (1981); University Parks, Oxford, 72 × 734 ft (1981); The Fen, Cambridge, 70 × 814 ft and 66 × 734 ft (1982); Oare House, Wilts., a superb specimen 66 × 414 ft (1981); Westonbirt, Glos., in Skillings, 92 × 9 ft (1977) and, in Victory Glade, pl. 1928, 72 × 614 ft (1981); Calderstones Park, Liverpool, 62 × 9 ft (1984); Birr Castle, Co. Offaly, Eire, 62 × 812 ft (1985).