Planting maple with spreading branches in parks and gardens is a common thing. Quite a bit of time has passed, and we already consider this species almost native. Maples decorate alleys, roadside lanes. They are planted on the territory of schools, kindergartens and other cultural and administrative institutions. Some time ago, few people thought about the dangers of this tree. Its beauty was striking, especially in autumn. What kind of tree is the ash-leaved maple? What is its benefit and harm to the environment and humans? Where is the species distributed? The answers to these questions are given in the article.
Historical information
Maple was brought to Europe at the end of the 17th century. He came to our country only a century later. Mature trees adorned the Botanical Garden in St. Petersburg. Samples were brought to us from the southern regions of the natural habitat of maples. In this regard, there have been unsuccessful attemptsgrowing an alien plant in the Russian climate, and even in open ground. A lot of time passed and a lot of work was spent before the breeders brought out the ash-leaved maple. It has been successfully grown in various regions of our country. People liked this tree.
Ash-leaved maple: description
This tree is wind resistant and well adapted to urban conditions. It has a different name - American maple, probably because its homeland is North America. The plant is unpretentious, grows on almost any soil, but prefers fertile soil. It belongs to deciduous plants, the average height reaches 15 m, but can grow up to 21. The trunk in girth is 30-60 cm, but this figure can be more, giants reach 90 cm in diameter. The trunk at the base is often divided into several processes, they are spreading and long, with a curved shape.
The branches are unevenly distributed around the trunk, which makes the crown look "disheveled". If maple grows in plantings with other trees, it begins to branch not at the base, but above. In this case, the crown is formed differently: it becomes high and rare.
The bark is gray or light brown in color, its thickness is small. Over the entire surface, shallow grooves intersecting with each other are visible. The green or crimson twigs are of medium strength, have leaf scar patterns, and are covered with greyish-green fluff. The buds are fluffy, pressed, white.
Flower characteristics
They are yellow-green maple, two types: male and female. The former form inflorescences in the form of hanging bunches with reddish anthers. Attached to stems with thin petioles. The female-type inflorescences are painted green and have the shape of a brush. Maple is a dioecious plant, on which both flowers coexist, but they are located on different branches. Maple flowering is average in duration (about half a month), falls on the month of May - the beginning of June, that is, until the first leaves appear.
Fetal Features
The fruit of the American maple is called the lionfish, which is fully consistent with its structure. Indeed, the seed is between two wings. One to the other is located at an angle that is 60 degrees or slightly less. The length of each wing is four centimeters. Fruit ripening begins in August and ends in October, but they do not fly around and hang on the branches until spring. Seeds do not have endosperm, their length is approximately two to three times greater than their width.
What kind of maple leaves
They have a complex structure. The leaves of the ash-leaved maple (the photo is presented for review) are opposite, pinnate. They consist of three, five or seven leaflets. In rare cases, there are 9, 11 or 13 of them. The length of each leaflet is 15-18 cm. Above they are light green, below they are painted in a pale silvery-white color, smooth to the touch. They are attached to the branches by means of long petioles, the size of which is eight centimeters. In their form they resembleash leaf. This determined the Russian name of the species. The edges of the leaves may be lobed or rough-serrate with a pointed apex. Ash maple leaves turn yellow or red in autumn. Like all the trees of this season, they look very beautiful.
Distribution
The natural habitat of the ash maple is the northeastern United States. But in the form of separate foci it is found in the central and southern states of the country. The secondary distribution area is such states as Washington, Maine, Oregon, the territory of Canada, the Far East, and Central Asia. In our country, in an uncultivated form, it is found in Central Russia and Siberia. It can be found in tugai - forests growing on non-drying river banks, in deciduous and coniferous woodlands, characterized by highly moist soil, and even in swamps. It grows next to pine, spruce, oak, ash, willows and poplars. The widespread distribution of the species is explained by the fact that the ash-leaved maple calmly tolerates a lack of moisture and nutrients in the soil.
How it is used
American ash-leaved maple grows very fast, so it is often used for quick landscaping of a certain area of \u200b\u200bthe territory. City streets, alleys and parks are decorated with trees. But this plant has disadvantages:
- Short lifespan: about 30 years in the city, up to 100 years in the wild.
- Brittle stems. The damage can be caused by adverse weather events: hail, rain,wind.
- Rapid development of undergrowth coming from the roots, resulting in the destruction of the asph alt.
- A lot of pollen during the flowering period, causing allergies in people.
- The crown is large - this is the reason for the shading of the streets, the reproduction of a large number of insects, including ticks.
- Roots and leaves, when decomposed, can release toxins that inhibit the development of nearby plants.
In fact, the ash-leaved maple tree does not represent a great decorative value. The plant has a powerful crown, which becomes very picturesque in autumn, when the leaves are painted in different shades: green, reddish, yellow. In landscape design, the plant is used infrequently, since the trunk of a maple is short and sometimes curved. Branches strongly, but the stems are fragile, brittle. This tree is not among the plants from which hedges are made. More often it is used when it is necessary to plant some greenery at a fast pace, and even then not in single plantings, but next to rocks that grow slowly, but have a high decorative effect.
Maple wood does not differ in strength, so it is used for the manufacture of containers and household items. In the lower wide part of the trunk and on the outgrowths, it has an unusual pattern. It is of great interest to craftsmen in their work: they carve various sculptures, handles, vases.
With the onset of spring, there is an abundant release of juice, sweet in taste. Some countries, such as North America, use maple as a sugar plant. The tree is very fond of birds, which equip their nests in a dense crown, and in the autumn season they feast on its seeds.
The plant does not have high decorative qualities, but it has another value - selection. Scientists use it to create new forms of trees and shrubs. So the ash-leaved maple Flamingo was bred. In decorative terms, this plant is of great importance.
Flamingo Maple
This kind of culture is easy to recognize by the leaves and crown. The natural habitat is North America. It is a low tree or shrub with many trunks. It reaches a height of five to eight meters. The shape of the crown is round, its diameter reaches four meters, it seems openwork. This is a very beautiful tree, they decorate gardens, squares, streets of cities and towns. Decorativeness is maintained throughout the entire period of life. Ash-leaved maple Flamingo is a dioecious plant. As with other varieties, both male and female flowers are located on the same tree, but only on different branches. They are small and have a greenish tint. The fruits are gray and lionfish-shaped.
Flamingo Leaves
Unpaired pinnate leaves reach 10 cm in length. Such leaves are called compound. They consist of individual leaves on short petioles, three to five centimeters long. Color changes during the growing season:
- Young shoots have silvery gray leaves.
- In the summer, the plates are bordered with white-pink color, spots of the sameshades that are randomly distributed.
- By autumn, the leaves turn bright or dark pink, greenish stripes appear on the surface.
Ash-leaved maple: ecological disaster
Currently, this species is widespread. Having “left” the squares and parks where it was planted by man for landscaping, the maple has infiltrated, and successfully, into the native flora. In landscaping city streets and yards, according to research, most of the trees are maples, which are pernicious woody weeds for cultural conditions. Where these trees grow, willows and poplars cease their renewal. Ash-leaved maple causes severe allergies in humans. Under the canopy of its lush crown, trees and shrubs of other species are slowly dying out, especially if they are small.
But why did the species spread so rapidly? This is explained very simply: maple is undemanding to growing conditions, and also grows quickly, does not respond to air pollution. When invading another territory, the maple is especially aggressive. This is due to the fact that seed reproduction is spontaneous. Distribution is carried out by self-seeding: first to disturbed places, then to natural communities. Settles quickly due to the early stage of fruiting (six to seven years) and the rapid change of generations.
Control measures
Harm of ash-leaved maple is obvious. To avoid an ecological catastrophe, you need to fight. First of all, you needprevent seed spread. To do this, the following measures should be taken:
- Classify maple as a dangerous species, that is, remove it from the category of plantings for landscaping.
- Prohibit the use of trees in landscaping.
- Cut down this type of trees in settlements and plant other plants.
- Inform the public about the dangers of maple.
- Mechanically (with a chainsaw) remove all plantings of this species, including young shoots, by digging border strips of thickets for this.
- Treat the soil around the plants with chemicals. This is a very effective measure, as maple is sensitive to herbicides such as Glyphosate.
