Home / Browse / Alnus / Nepal Alder

iNaturalist — CC, credited & licensed per image

Betulaceae family

Nepal Alder Alnus nepalensis

Also known as: Nepal Black Cedar

Nepal Alder is an introduced perennial tree, found in Hawaii. It grows to 66 ft.

More about this plant

Alnus nepalensis is a large alder tree found in the subtropical highlands of the Himalayas. The tree is called Utis in Nepali and Nepalese alder in English. It is used in land reclamation, as firewood and for making charcoal. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY

Size & form

Sources · Size & form

TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0) — Height · Foliage

USDA PLANTS — Lifespan

Height: 66 ft
Lifespan: Perennial
Foliage: Deciduous broadleaf

In the garden

Canopy layer — Sits in the canopy of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →

Nitrogen fixer — Fixes atmospheric nitrogen through root-nodule bacteria — builds soil fertility for itself and its neighbours, cutting fertiliser need.Open guide →

High-nutrient foliage — Above-average measured leaf nitrogen — its prunings make rich compost and mulch (the measured stand-in for folklore "dynamic accumulator" lists).Open guide →

derived roles

Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →

❧ Caterpillar hosts ~255 caterpillar species · keystone genus

Alnus supports ~255 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a powerhouse genus.

Recorded feeding on Alnus in North America, including:

Abagrotis variata · owlet moth

Acerra normalis · owlet moth

Achatia distincta · Distinct Quaker

Achatodes zeae · Elder Shoot Borer

Acleris braunana · leafroller moth

Acleris caliginosana · leafroller moth

+ 8 more species →

Acleris cervinana · leafroller moth

Acleris cornana · leafroller moth

Acleris fuscana · Small Aspen Leaftier

Acleris hudsoniana · leafroller moth

Acleris inana · Inane Acleris

Acleris logiana · leafroller moth

Acleris maccana · leafroller moth

Acleris semiannula · leafroller moth

Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).

Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.

How we know this (1) Methods & honest limits

Photosynthesis Direct fact

A recorded categorical fact: each species is tagged C3 (standard), C4 (heat/water-efficient) or CAM (succulent, night-time CO₂ uptake) — or a facultative combination. We only show a trait card for the noteworthy C4/CAM cases; C3 is the unremarkable majority, kept in the data but not surfaced as a card.

Kattge, J. et al. TRY plant trait database — Categorical Traits Dataset (2012).

Derived values are computed from open data by a published method — labelled, cited, and never shown as a direct observation. Full methodology →

Sources for this entry (19) Open & cited

[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)

[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)

[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)

[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)

[05] Invasive / introduced status — US-RIIS v2.0 (USGS)

[06] Photos — iNaturalist — CC, credited per image

[07] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)

[08] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts

[09] Foliage — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)

[10] Height — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)

[11] Functional traits — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)

[12] Photosynthetic pathway — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)

[13] Nitrogen fixation — Werner et al. 2014 (Dryad, CC0)

[14] Mycorrhiza — FungalRoot v2.0 · Meng et al. 2024 (Dryad, CC0)

[15] Human uses — Dr. Duke's Phytochemical & Ethnobotanical Databases (USDA, CC0)

[16] Other common names — Wikidata (CC0)

[17] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts

[18] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)

[19] County range — GBIF Open Data — open-licensed occurrences (CC0/CC-BY) → county

Spot an error or have a better photo? Every field links to its source, and the whole dataset is open.

Cite this page Open data, please attribute

PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

Citation

Loading…

BibTeX

Loading…

Enable JavaScript for a ready-to-copy citation with today’s access date, or cite this page’s URL with the date you viewed it.

Ecological value open data

3 / 5 Keystone

Keystone (host) value — caterpillar, specialist-bee & monarch hosting. A low number means “not a keystone host,” not “low value”: generalist flower-visitor value is shown separately below.

Caterpillar host 5

⚠ non-native — reduced keystone value

Deep dive

Caterpillar host · 5/5 — native butterfly & moth caterpillars that feed on this genus — the base of the food web (more caterpillars → more songbirds). Genus-level keystone count from Warren II 2026 (CC0; Tallamy host-use records), gap-filled by our GloBI derivation.

Counts are genus-level and banded 0–5. Full rubric →

Host / keystone value from open interaction data. How this is scored →

📍 In your area live

Introduced to the U.S.

Recorded in 1 state.

Open occurrence records place it in 2 counties across 1 states · GBIF (CC0/CC-BY)

Introduced — Hawaii

Recorded in 1 states/territories

Conservation

Invasive? Introduced

Toxicity & pet safety

Check the ASPCA pet database →

Educational, not veterinary advice. If you suspect your pet ate this plant, contact a vet or pet poison-control line.

Documented human uses Dr. Duke's

Medicinal use

A historical record of how this plant has been used — not medical or dietary advice, and not a claim that it is effective or safe. Many plants are toxic; never ingest or treat with a wild plant without expert guidance and a confirmed identification. Dr. Duke's →

Functional traits TRY · Dryad

Nitrogen fixer — forms root nodules that capture atmospheric nitrogen, building soil fertility. It nodulates with Frankia bacteria (actinorhizal — like alders, Ceanothus & sea-buckthorn). · Werner et al.

Wood density low

0.41 g/cm³

light, fast wood — quick biomass for chop-and-drop mulch

Seed mass small

3 mg

small seed — straightforward to sow

Leaf nitrogen high

38.4 mg/g

nutrient-rich leaves (top ~10%) — strong compost & chop-and-drop biomass; a measured stand-in for "dynamic accumulator" claims

Mycorrhiza obligate

Ecto (ECM)

ectomycorrhizal — the partnership of most forest trees; wraps roots in a fungal sheath and links into shared soil networks

Deep dive — what these mean

Wood density 0.41 g/cm³ — how heavy the wood is for its size. Denser wood = hotter, longer-burning firewood and tougher poles; lighter wood rots fast (quick mulch).

Seed mass 3 mg — average weight of one seed. Bigger seeds are easier to hand-collect & direct-sow; dust-fine seeds need surface-sowing.

Leaf nitrogen 38.4 mg/g — measured leaf N. Higher = richer prunings for compost/mulch (a measured stand-in for "dynamic accumulator" claims).

Photosynthesis — the standard “C3” pathway most plants use, most active in cooler, moister, moderate-light conditions. (pathway C3)

Mycorrhiza ECM — the root–fungus partnership it forms (AM = most plants; ECM = most forest trees; ERM = heaths; NM = none). Trades sugars for water & nutrients via shared soil networks.

Measured traits from TRY + Werner et al. (N-fix), Fan et al. (roots) & FungalRoot — general guidance, not species-specific prescriptions.

More modules coming

Nepal Alder Alnus nepalensis

Growing & care

Wildlife & pollinators

Alnus supports ~255 caterpillar species.

Related plants