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Hazel Alder (Alnus serrulata)

• Family: Birch (Betulaceae)
• Flowering: March-April.
• Field Marks: This alder has woody "cones" up to 1 inch long and wingless seeds.
• Habitat: Along streams, wet meadows.
• Habit: Shrub with several stems.
• Stems: Dark gray to black, up to 15 feet tall; the twigs usually rusty-hairy early in the season.
• Leaves: Alternate, simple, ovate to obovate, pointed or rounded at the tip, rounded or nearly heart-shaped at the base, sharply toothed, hairy on the veins on the lower surface of the leaves.
• Flowers: Male and female flowers borne separately but on the same plant, appearing before the leaves unfold; the male in slender, drooping spikes up to 3 inches long; the female in erect, oblong "cones" less than 1 inch long.
• Sepals: 4, minute, present only in the male flowers.
• Petals: 0.
• Stamens: 4.
• Pistils: Styles 2.
• Fruits: Woody, cone-like, up to 1 inch long, containing several nut-like seeds; the seeds shiny, obovoid, up to 1/8 inch long, wingless.