Maple Manchu: welcome guest from the South Primorye

Maple Manchu - a native of the Far East. Extraordinarily beautiful in autumn, like all representatives of this genus, related to the family Salindov.

Maple Manchu: description

The height of the tree in natural growth conditions is from fifteen to twenty meters.

The diameter of the trunk of natural maple can be up to sixty centimeters.

The crown of the Manchu maple has an oblong-oval, elegant form.

The bark is gray in color, smooth in youth, becomes darker with time and is covered first with small, then deeper cracks.

Reddish touching petioles end in complex triple leaves. Long leaves in them have a lanceolate (or elliptical) shape, a shade of color from above is darker (almost dark green), from below it is lighter (almost green). In young leaves, a pubescence grows along the veins in the spring, which disappears by the middle of summer.

The tree produces naked young shoots of reddish-brown color with pointed spindle-shaped kidneys, initially closed with dense scales gradually falling off.

The juice of the plant contains up to two percent of sugar, which is comparable to the famous Canadian plants containing up to 3 percent sucrose.

Inflorescences of the tree are shielded, have from three to six flowers. Blossoms maple Manchurian at the same time with the opening of leaves.

By the autumn the fruit ripens - a double lionfish. In natural conditions, seeds are carried by the wind to a distance of 20-30 meters in the absence of obstacles. The weight of one seed is 0.07 g.

The root system of the Manchu maple is located in a horizontal position, it is widely distributed practically on one level.

The historical age of representatives of the species Maple

According to paleontological studies, the genus Klenov developed rapidly at the beginning of the Tertiary period (from 65 million years ago to 1.8 million). Since the middle of this period (Miocene), due to cooling, the maples have simply begun to move to the south. With the onset of the Last Ice Age (Pliocene), many thermophilic maples, widespread throughout Eurasia, became extinct, while others formed new species.

Siberia remained a territory without maple trees, forming a kind of a strip of separation between the European distribution area of maples and the Far East. Thus, in the territories of the Russian Primorye, Japan and Central China (where there was no glaciation, and the climate remained soft), some ancient species of maples from the Tertiary period have been preserved.

The natural range of the Manchu maple extends to the territory of the Far East, Korea and Manchuria.

Maple Manchu: description of the distribution on the territory of the Russian Federation

In Russia, the representatives of the family grow in natural conditions exclusively in the Southern Primorye in deciduous forests, meeting also in mixed and coniferous forests.

Maple Manchurian is not at all exacting to the soil, it is enough for wintering.

According to observations of Russian scientists, cultural Manchurian maples can grow even in the taiga zone. Limitations occur according to the conditions of average monthly temperatures, north of 64 degrees north. (Approximate coordinates of Arkhangelsk) planting of this plant is problematic.

Maple Manchurian in the suburbs has been growing for a long time. This species was studied on the territory of the Forest Experimental Farm of the Academy of Agriculture. Maple Manchurian, whose height reaches here 15 meters, is represented in large quantities in the territory of the 6th block of the Dacha.

Its delicate crown and purple tones remarkably shade the pitted pine forest of artificial (as well as maple) origin. In the height of maple Manchu occupies the second level here.

Terms of development of the plant

Maple Manchu refers to srednetsvetuschim species of maples, along with sycamore, false-zybold, yellow and ears. Flowering begins in mid-May. In September - early October (depending on the temperature and humidity of the air), the leaves of the maples are painted in a wonderful purple color, and then the leaf fall immediately begins. Trees enter into a state of rest. The March-April warming is characterized by the beginning of the sap movement, the maple enters the active phase.

The annual growth of a young plant reaches up to forty to sixty centimeters per year. In natural conditions maple Manchurian can grow up to 80-100 years.

Decorative use

Unusual large leaves of green Manchurian maple, its bright purple (sometimes even turning into dark pink) coloring attract attention not only nature lovers, but also landscape designers. The use of plants in gardening dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century.

The work of the nurseries of Great Britain on the cultivation of the Manchu maple is well known. Although breeders and faced with the problem of early frosts against the background of high daily temperatures, typical for the Foggy Albion in the spring.

To date, Manchu maple is represented by many nurseries in both container culture (for further transplantation) and in bonsai culture.

Breeding conditions

For gardening in the Russian Federation, quality seed is needed, which has passed acclimatization in the mid-zone conditions. The use by many Russian nurseries of foreign seed material (or taken from the Far East) in the form of rooted cuttings does not always give winter hardiness. Maples grown from seeds are perfectly acclimatized and grow in conditions of frosty winters.