Spicebush vs Red Alder

The Spicebush is an unique ornamental shrub that blooms with vibrant yellow flowers and bright green foliage. The foliage goes from green to yellow in the autumn, adding fall interest to your garden.The plant is dioecious, meaning that you will need male and female plants in order to harvest it’s red berries. Berries are only produced on female plants. The berries themselves aren’t that sweet, and are mostly enjoyed by birds and other wildlife.

The Spicebush, also commonly known as Common Spicebush, Northern Spicebush, Wild Allspice, and Benjamin Bush, is named after its distinctive spicy-sweet fragrance that comes from the flowers.

Red Alder is a fast-growing deciduous tree native to western North America. Through its nitrogen-fixing roots and nitrogen-rich leaf litter, Red Alder improves soil fertility and supports the growth of surrounding plants. This makes it especially valuable on disturbed sites following logging, construction, or fire. A classic pioneer species, it often colonizes bare ground and enhances conditions for longer-lived conifers to follow.

Red Alder stabilizes soils on streambanks and disturbed slopes, reducing erosion and aiding restoration. It also supports wildlife: birds and small mammals eat the seeds and buds, deer and elk browse the foliage, and bees are drawn to the pollen-rich catkins in spring.

Red Alder also has commercial importance, with its strong yet workable wood widely used for furniture, cabinetry, veneer, and pulp. The tree takes its name from the rusty-red color the bark turns when cut or bruised.

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