Species tree Acer negundo Belongs to the family Maple, or Sapinda. It is familiar to many urban and rural residents. The Russian name for this plant is ash-leaved maple, or American. Homeland - Canada and the northeastern United States.
Botanical Description
Unlike ordinary or plane-shaped maple, American has unpaired, similar to ash leaves. Each of them consists of 3-5, sometimes a larger number of individual elongated plates with lobed or serrated edges. The color of the leaves in the upper part is light green, on the back side is dull, grayish-whitish. In the fall, they become bright yellow or reddish. The surface is smooth or slightly pubescent. When rubbing in the hands of young shoots and leaves emit an unpleasant pungent smell. Due to the content of toxic compounds, they can cause poisoning of animals. Below is a photo of this type of maple.
Young trees look quite picturesque. Their trunks are covered with a thin light gray bark with small cracks, the side shoots are olive, reddish or purple. With age, the bark thickens, becomes rough and dark. Trunks begin to branch almost on the ground. Because of this, trees look like giant bushes. Maples can reach 20 m in height, but most of them are much lower - about 8-12 m. The maximum thickness of the trunks is about 70 cm.
The root system is often fibrous, superficial. In conditions of poor or dehydrated soil, roots similar to rods grow.
Crohn is irregular in shape. Due to the presence of spreading, twisted, horizontal shoots, it looks untidy. The ash-bearing maple growing among other trees is stretched, its tops become ragged and sparse.
Growth and flowering conditions
This dioecious plant blooms from late April or early May for 2-3 weeks. Female inflorescences - panicle brushes. Male - hanging reddish long bunches.
Fruits are single-seeded with large light wings. They ripen in September, can remain on the branches until late winter.
The wood is light, soft and fragile, prone to decay, prone to deformation. Due to the presence of large fibers, it is difficult to process. Does not find wide application in industry. American maple is mainly used for making stakes, small parts, wooden boxes, temporary fences.
Ashenel maple is photophilous, prefers fertile and loose soils, but is able to grow on any soil. It has good frost resistance. Under adverse conditions, forms shrubby forms. Insensitive to polluted and gassed air. Trees quickly and actively propagate by self-seeding or perennial shoots, exhibit high adaptive abilities, and easily master new territories.
The maximum life span of this species is not more than 80 years. Flowers and fruits begin to form from the age of 6. Most trees dry out after 30–40 years.
Spread
In Europe and Russia, i.e. Outside of its natural range, the American maple has gained a reputation as an invasive invasive species. Trees appeared on the Eurasian continent in the early 18th century, later they were planted in the Botanical Garden of St. Petersburg. Repeatedly, varieties of ash maple were bred from seeds delivered from North America. For a long time, these trees were considered as profitable and easy in relation to the reproduction of the breed for landscaping city streets, park areas and personal plots. The cold resistance of American maple was especially attractive to scientists. It tolerates temperatures up to -30 ° C.
Introduced specimens showed excellent stamina, spread rapidly in the wild. Doubts about its survival in unusual ecosystems were unnecessary. It turned out that American maple grows well not only in the Eurasian temperate latitudes, but also in more northern areas. Currently, only harsh polar territories remain free from it. Trees grow even in Yakutia, not dying at -45 ° C.
The ability to intervene in any ecosystem, to easily fill in free territories and drown out the growth of other trees makes it possible to attribute ash-leaved maple to xenophyte plants. Its lower shoots often sink almost to the ground, and tangled roots hinder the growth of herbs. Falling leaves secrete toxins that destroy near-growing species.. Seeds scatter from trees to a distance of more than 1 km, with almost 90% of them sprouting, germinating in a year to a height of about 1 m. Reproduction in geometric progression and unprecedented resistance pose a threat to natural ecosystems.
In cities, abundant maple plantings during the flowering period cause severe allergies.
The decorative qualities of the wild variety also turned out to be low due to the presence of twisted shoots and an unevenly growing crown. In addition, this type of maple is very fragile: branches and trunks easily break under gusts of strong wind. Spreading root shoots penetrate cracks in the road surface and damage communications. Sometimes, due to surface roots, old maples unable to maintain stability fall even in calm weather. Currently, they have stopped using them for landscaping.
Varieties
It is not recommended to plant a wild species of American maple in the garden or near the house. And it’s not at all that he can die. On the contrary, this tree can grow even on the iron roof of the barn or in the crevices of the concrete foundation. So that maple weed does not litter all the free space, constant pruning and uprooting of shoots are necessary. It takes a lot of time and effort. Lion seeds, falling, germinate very quickly and can shoot up to 1.5 m long in 1 year. Attempts to cut down unnecessary trees are rarely successful. New root shoots grow from hemp. The invader can very quickly poison the soil with toxins and drown out the growth of all beneficial plants. Often ticks hide in the greenery of wild ash maple.
If you want to plant this species on your site, then you should pay attention to more decorative varieties:
- Auratum, or Odessanum. This tree can reach 7 m in height. The leaves have a bright golden or bronze hue, orange shoots. This variety looks very beautiful even in cloudy weather. Young Odessaanum grows quickly, up to 50–70 cm per year, tolerates frosty winters well. Lives about 25 years, then the crown begins to dry out.
- Aureo-variegatum is a non-flowering shrub form about 5 m high. It grows very quickly, shows good frost resistance. It has a wide, up to 5-6 m in diameter, dense crown. It features beautiful dark green leaves with a contrasting light yellow border.
- Flamingo is a tall fast-growing shrub with a decorative multi-colored crown. The leaves are lobed, after blooming pale green, eventually covered with bright pink spots and a fringing.
- Elegans is a shrubby variety with leaves with a golden yellow border.
- Variegatum. This ornamental plant has unevenly colored leaves that look crumpled when bloomed. In the center of the plate are bright green, sometimes with whitish spots. The edges are cream or pink. It grows a little slower than other varieties.
Landing and care
American maples are not recommended to be planted as hedges, because they quickly grow in all directions. In small areas, it is better to limit yourself to one tree. It is desirable to place it at a remote distance from other plants, especially fruit and berry crops.
Plant trees in April or September in loose and moderately moist soil.. In poor soil, it is advisable to first introduce complex fertilizer. The pits should be 60 × 60 × 60 cm in size. If several plants are planted nearby, then they are placed 1.5–2 m apart.
The root lump is deepened so that the neck is at the level of the surface. Fill the holes with a mixture of turf soil, peat in equal proportions and ¼ part of the sand. The earth is slightly tamped. It does not hurt to water the plant abundantly for speedy survival. It is recommended to close the trunk circle tightly with peat, this will prevent the growth of weeds near the maple.
Young seedlings are useful for regular watering. It will be enough about 20 liters per week. In the spring, it is advisable to make potassium and sodium top dressings or special compounds for maples.
For winter, only first-year trees are required to be covered; older adults are no longer afraid of severe frosts. Annually, it is recommended to remove overgrown and dried branches, basal shoots. A regular haircut will help curb the overgrowth of American maples.