Smooth alder (Alnus serrulata) is a wonderful thicket-forming species which falls into the catch-all category of "small tree to large shrub". Usually maxing out at a height of 15 feet, smooth alder is a fast-growing denizen of wetlands and riparian (streamside or lakeside) habitats, where it provides food for birds, bugs, and beavers, and good cover for wildlife in summer and winter.

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Recorded on 1/7/23 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by Allyson Davis, who does love wetlands but has never been particularly fast growing.