It is a medium sized deciduous tree up to 25 m high or even more with a trunk up to 1 m diameter.

It is often found in town parks and along roadsides. Commonly planted as a windbreak.

Alnus cordata can be distinguished from Alder (Alnus glutinosa) by the serrated margin to the leaves, the female catkins are larger and the buds are green with red/brown speckles whereas the buds of Alnus glutinosa are purple.

Facts

• It can fix nitrogen from the air, and thrives on poor, dry soils.  These features make it useful for reclaiming mining spoil heaps and is likely to be of increasing value as global warming takes effect.