Manchu maple is a native of the Far East. Extremely beautiful in the fall, like all representatives of this genus, belonging to the Salindov family.
Manchurian maple: description
The height of the tree in vivo 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 elongated oval elegant shape.
The bark is brownish gray, smooth in youth, becomes darker over time and is covered first by small, then deeper cracks.
Reddish touching petioles end with complex triple leaves.
The long leaflets in them have a lanceolate (or elliptical) shape, the hue of the color is darker on the top (almost dark green) and lighter on the bottom (almost light green). Young leaves on the veins in the spring grow pubescence, which disappears by the middle of summer.
The tree releases bare young shoots of a reddish-brown color with pointed spindle-shaped buds, initially closed by dense scales, falling off gradually.
Plant juice contains up to two percent sugar, which is comparable to the famous Canadian plants containing up to 3 percent sucrose.
Inflorescences of the tree are corymbose, have from three to six flowers. Manchurian maple blooms at the same time as the leaves bloom.
By autumn, the fruit ripens - double lionfish. Under natural conditions, the seeds are carried by the wind to a distance of 20-30 meters in the absence of barriers. The weight of one seed is 0.07 g.
The root system of the Manchu maple is located in a horizontal position, widely distributed at almost the same level.
The historical age of the 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). Starting from the middle of this period (Miocene), due to the cooling, the maples simply began to move south. With the onset of the Last Ice Age (Pliocene), many heat-loving maples, ubiquitous in Eurasia, became extinct, while others formed new species.
Siberia remained a territory without maple trees, forming a kind of separation strip between the European distribution area of maples and the Far East. Thus, in the territories of Russian Primorye, Japan and Central China (where there was no glaciation and the climate remained mild), some ancient maple species from the Tertiary period were preserved.
The natural range of the Manchurian maple extends to the Far East, Korea and Manchuria.
Manchurian maple: description of distribution on the territory of the Russian Federation
In Russia, the family grows in natural conditions exclusively in Southern Primorye in deciduous forests, also occurring in mixed and coniferous forests.
The Manchurian maple is absolutely not picky about the soil, winter-hardy enough.
According to the observations of Russian scientists, cultural Manchu maples can grow even in the taiga zone. Limitations come under the conditions of average monthly temperatures, north of 64 degrees north latitude. (approximate coordinates of Arkhangelsk) planting this plant is problematic.
The Manchurian maple in the Moscow Region has been growing for quite some time. This species was studied on the territory of the Forest Experimental Cottage of the Academy of Agriculture. The Manchurian maple, whose height reaches 15 meters here, is represented in large quantities on the territory of the 6th quarter of Dachi.
Its openwork crown and purple tones remarkably shade the thinned pine forest of artificial (like maple) origin. The height of the Manchu maple is here the second tier.
Plant development time
Manchurian maple belongs to the middle-flowering species of maples, along with sycamore, pseudo-bold, yellow and spiky. Flowering begins in mid-May. In September - early October (depending on temperature and humidity), maple leaves turn a wonderful purple color, and then leaf fall begins immediately. Trees enter dormancy. March-April warming is characterized by the beginning of sap flow, maple enters the active phase.
The annual growth of a young plant reaches up to forty-sixty centimeters per year. Under natural conditions, the Manchurian maple 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) color attract the attention of not only nature lovers, but also landscape designers. The use of plants in landscaping dates back to the early twentieth century.
The work of nurseries in the UK on the cultivation of the Manchu maple is well known. Although breeders are faced with the problem of early frosts against the background of high daytime temperatures characteristic of Misty Albion in the spring.
To date, the Manchurian maple is represented by many nurseries both in container culture (for further transplantation) and in bonsai culture.
