Acer pseudoplatanus

Common name: White Maple, False Banana

Description:

The false banana (Acer pseudoplatanus) is a deciduous tree belonging to the Sapindaceae family. It can reach 30 meters in height, forming a wide crown, it has smooth, gray bark.

Its deciduous leaves are palmate, with five ovate lobes, toothed on the margin, long petiolate and arranged oppositely.

The false banana has dioecious, green-yellow flowers, very numerous and arranged in inflorescences that are produced from April to May. It generates a fruit in the form of two joined samaras, which ripens during the summer and can remain on the tree for a long time until they fall off.

Culture:

It is a tree that requires a lot of space to develop, and should be planted in open areas, away from infrastructure or buildings. This, in addition, will favor appreciating the seasonal change throughout the tree, a fact that gives it great ornamental interest. It can resist frosts down to -15ºC and can be affected by high temperatures, or in very hot areas during the summer.

It grows in deep soils, with abundant presence of organic matter, developing better in slightly acidic soils, it prefers loose soils. In more clayey soils, chlorosis can occur, so when planting it we have to take into account the place of planting and make a good planting hole to prevent root suffocation.

It requires high levels of irrigation, maintaining high humidity but without causing waterlogging. It is recommended to irrigate with slightly acidic or rainwater, devoid of lime.

You can apply a fertilizer or 2, annually, through the contribution of organic fertilizers or compost, to promote growth, preferably in spring.

Multiplication:

It is propagated by seed germination, which must be subjected to a cold treatment to activate their germination capacity.

Applications:

Ornamental use, as an isolated specimen or to form groves in green areas and large parks.