| DESCRIPTION: It is a shrub or small tree up to 10 m in height. The bark is light brown to reddish-brown, occasionally mottled with gray. Leaves oblong, ovate, or obovate, 7.5ˆ10 cm long, 3.7ˆ5 cm wide, dark green above. Flowers in peduncle catkins. USE: The plant is able to fix atmospheric nitrogen. It has been planted for re-forestation purposes on eroded slopes in the Philippines. It is used in folk remedies for cancers, indurations and/or tumours, especially of the breast, epithelium, duodenum, esophagus, face, lip, pancreas, pylorus, rectum, throat, tongue, and uterus. American indians had a wide array of uses for alder, for dyestuffs, insect repellant or insecticide, emergency food, but mostly for folk medicine. GROWING PERIOD: Perennial. COMMON NAMES: Seaside alder. FURTHER INF: It occurs in north-eastern and Central United States and in the Philippines and is generally restricted to damp or wet soils in sunny areas, most often at the edges of ponds, rivers, or streams. |
