10 Gallon
Light: Full Sun - Partial Sun
Soil: Medium Wet - Wet
Mature Height: Up to 30 Feet
Mature Width: Up to 20 Feet
Description: This native alder tends to be multi-stemmed and is best used in groups in wet areas and flood plains. Branches with small cones and catkins make excellent winter arrangements. This plant fixes nitrogen in the soil that can be used by other plants. Grows rapidly! Frequently forming dense thickets, Speckled Alder spreads rhizomatously and prefers low, moist areas, often occurring along streams and lakes. This shrub is part of a circumpolar Alder family that requires cold weather to survive and thrive; Illinois lists this species as endangered. Speckled Alder serves as a food source for many species: deer and beavers eat the bark, goldfinches eat the seeds, and its leaves host the larvae of the green comma butterfly.
