What can be done from maple boards. Maple

Maple is common in North America, Europe, Asia. It grows, on average, up to 40 meters in height. About 20 types of maple grow in Russia. Almost all species can be found in the Caucasus. Maple is found in almost the entire territory of Russia, from the southern part to the Far East. But in Siberia, maple does not grow. Maple has a very beautiful crown.

That is why it is often planted in parks, squares, used in landscape design. The lifespan of maple is typically up to 300 years.

Maple wood.

Maple wood is considered heartwood. Because of the indistinguishability of the sapwood and the heartwood. Maple wood has a light color, almost white, sometimes with a slight yellowness.

The dark, thin, heart-shaped rays of maple wood give it a unique pattern when sawed. Therefore, maple wood is considered beautiful, it is used to make decorative items from wood, various crafts.

Maple wood growing in Russia is dense, durable, finely porous, wear-resistant. Maple requires slow natural drying. In this sense, maple wood is capricious. At quick drying wood often cracks when it dries out.

A huge number of items are made from maple wood. This is due to excellent technical, mechanical characteristics and aesthetics of texture. Most often, stairs, railings, parquet, handles, parts of musical instruments, furniture, chess pieces, oars, dishes, and so on are made from maple.

Maple wood lends itself well to processing. She perfectly accepts paints. Wonderful . Maple wood is resistant to cracking, it is convenient to work with it, making objects where you need to cut small, decorative, figured holes.

If maple wood is treated with anti-rotting compounds, then it can be safely used in exterior decoration and buildings. For example, build a terrace, benches, parts of playgrounds and so on.

Maple. Beneficial features.

Maple contains a large amount of vitamins A, C, tannins in leaves, bark, roots and seeds.
Well helps cough infusion of maple seeds. To do this, take 400 ml of boiling water, which pour 2 teaspoons of seeds, leave for 30 minutes and drink 30 minutes before meals.
A decoction of maple bark helps with diarrhea, as the bark contains astringents.

Maple syrup is widely used in cooking. It is a sweet syrup with a light, pleasant woody smell and taste. Maple syrup comes from Canada.

No wonder Canada has a maple leaf on its flag. Currently, maple syrup is also produced in Russia in various regions. Maple syrup is obtained from

Genus Maple(Acer) unites about 150 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, of which about 25 can be found on the territory of Russia. Tree species are mainly large monoecious, dioecious and polyecious trees up to 30 - 40 m high, trunk diameter up to 1 - 2 m, with a dense, round-cylindrical (if growing in freedom) crown. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, entire or pinnately compound. The shape of leaves and fruits (lionfish) is the main species feature. Maples live mostly 150 - 200 years (in rare cases - up to 500 years).

Maple forests, or maple forests, in the woody composition of which maple predominates, are found in the zone of broad-leaved and mixed coniferous-broad-leaved forests. Western Europe, North Africa, Asia, North and Central America. In Russia - in the European part of the Far East. total area of our maple forests is about 440 thousand hectares with a timber reserve of about 38 million m3. Maple usually participates in the formation of mixed forest stands, most often forming the second tier.

In Russia, maple forests are most often found in the southern part of the forest zone of the European part, where the share of maple forests is 0.01 - 0.3% of the forested area (on average in Russia - 0.07%) with a maximum (up to 4%) in the Cis-Urals and on the western foothills of the Southern Urals.

Maple is a non-nuclear, sapwood, disseminated vascular species. The central zone of the trunk practically does not differ from the peripheral zone either in color or in water content. The wood of sycamore (white maple) is white, sometimes with a yellowish tint, shiny, in other species - with a reddish or brownish tint, turning yellow over time under the action of sunlight. Annual layers are visible on all sections. Narrow heart-shaped rays of brownish color are especially clearly visible in the radial section. They look like a solid mosaic of shiny spots and ribbons, giving maple wood a kind of silky speckledness.

Maple wood has a homogeneous structure, mainly with straight annual layers on a radial section. The late wood of the annual layers is darker in color than the early wood, but they do not have a clear boundary.

Maple belongs to the medium drying species of wood. Indicators of physical and mechanical properties of small samples without defects - the average values for maple are: basic density - 570 kg/m3. The highest density was recorded in the American sugar maple (Hard maple) 705 kg/m3 (at a humidity of 12%), the lowest is also the American species - ash-leaved maple (Acer negundo) - 513 kg/m3.

In terms of its strength characteristics, maple is somewhat superior to oak. Tensile strength (at a moisture content of 12%): in tension along the fibers - 80 - 140 MPa; when stretched across the fibers - 13.3 MPa.

The ability to hold fasteners (resistance to pulling out nails and screws) at the level of hardwood species - oak, beech and ash.

The ability to bend in maple wood is rated as good (almost the same as in beech wood), but when steamed, it changes color - it acquires a yellowish-brown tint.

In terms of resistance to biological damage, maple is classified as a low-resistant species, the coefficient of resistance in relation to linden is 2.1. Satisfactorily impregnated with protective compositions. Shape and dimensional stability of maple products is moderate to good.

During the drying process, maple wood exhibits a tendency to crack and warp, so careful selection of the drying mode is required. Preliminary natural drying of freshly sawn materials in stacks protected from sunlight and precipitation, up to humidity 20 - 25%. High-temperature drying regimes are also not recommended because maple lumber under these conditions changes its color (turns yellow). Maple also turns yellow under the influence of sunlight, and quite quickly.

Due to its high evenness, straightness and uniform distribution of properties throughout the volume, maple wood is well processed by all types of cutting tools, it is excellent for turning and carving, it is excellently ground and polished. Well glued, tinted, painted and varnished.

Among hardwoods, maple wood is considered one of the most valuable. Masters have long treated her with respect. For example, known for Greek mythology The Trojan horse was made by the Greeks from maple. The use of maple is limited only by low biostability and a tendency to discoloration. The last drawback is removed by using various mordants and stains.

Maple wood is used to make furniture. Well dried, it exhibits good shape and dimensional stability indoors, which is why one of its most popular products is countertops, particularly for restaurants and cafes. Together with other valuable breeds, it is used for inlay as contrasting details. It combines well with oak and fruit species (cherry, pear, apple), it combines well with beech, if the parts from these species do not directly touch. Combines with metal and glass details.

Maple parquet is especially valued for its high hardness and wear resistance. American sugar maple is used for floors in dance halls, bowling alleys, etc. Maple is very good for making stairs and interior decoration details.

Maple is an excellent material for carving. It has a high resistance to chipping, so very thin cuts can be made on its wood, and the cuts are crisp, clean and smooth, with a soft glossy sheen. Moreover, they can be done in any direction, almost without fear of chips. Maple is widely used for crafts and kitchen utensils - spoons, ladles, carved and chiseled vessels. They are made by oars, tool handles, pads of hand planers, measuring and drawing tools.

In the old days, a comb was made from maple wood for combing yarn, on which more than two hundred very thin and long teeth were cut. It required great skill and the greatest caution. The comb was scraped, cleaned and sanded, and then impregnated for strength linseed oil and dried.

AT modern production maple wood is used to make skis and rifle stocks, decorative wooden sculpture with fine modeling, and woodcuts.

For musical instruments, sycamore maple, or white maple, which grows in the Caucasus and the Carpathians, is widely used. Its wood has a beautiful texture pattern, especially in radial and semi-radial cuts, and has high acoustic and mechanical properties. Sound in it propagates at the same speed both across and along the fibers. Sycamore-maple is used to make lower soundboards, sides, necks and stands for bowed instruments: violins, cellos, double basses, violas and others. Canadian or sugar maple produces veneer, sometimes with a very bizarre texture called "bird's eye".

American maple

American maple(Hard Maple) - botanical name: Acer saccharum, Acer nigrum. Other names: sugar maple, black maple.

The sugar maple is the official state tree of Wisconsin, Vermont, New York, and West Virginia. In the northern United States, when the days are warm and the nights are cold in late winter, maple trees are pruned to extract the sucrose-containing sap that is the source of maple syrup. It takes thirty gallons of juice to make one gallon of syrup. One maple tree produces 12 gallons of sap per year. The first American settlers used maple ash to make soap, and the Indians used sugar maple to make their spears. Since the early days of colonization, maple has been widely used in the manufacture of furniture. Sugar maple is the wood of choice for cutting boards because it does not add flavor to food and has good wear resistance.

The habitat is the eastern United States, mainly the Mid-Atlantic states and the states of the Great Lakes. A cold-loving tree prefers to grow in a northern climate. The average height is 40 meters. It makes up 4% of industrially used hardwoods in the United States.

Main uses: parquet, solid board, clapboard, wall panels, furniture, gym and bowling alley flooring, kitchen cabinets, countertops, cutting boards, toys, kitchen utensils, interior decoration, stairs, handrails, decoration items, doors.

The sapwood is creamy white with a slight reddish brown tinge, and the heartwood color ranges from light to dark reddish brown. The amount of darker brown heartwood may vary depending on the growing region. Both sapwood and heartwood can have core spots (or wormholes). The wood has a fairly good uniform texture, with usually straight grains, but curlicue, treble clef, and bird's eye patterns can occasionally be seen.

Sugar maple dries slowly with a lot of shrinkage, which can lead to shifting when working. When using nails and screws, pre-drilling is recommended. With some care, it lends itself well to machine and turning, glues satisfactorily, and shows excellent results when polishing. It is well varnished and covered with enamel paints and dyes of brown tones.

The wood is hard and heavy with good strength properties. Wood is particularly resistant to wear and tear. It also lends itself well to steam bending. The wood is widespread. Availability restrictions may apply to high quality white lumber (sapwood). Patterned maple (bird's eye, curl, treble clef) is commercially available in veneer only.

According to some Serbian beliefs, a dry maple can turn green if an unjustly accused person touches it, and vice versa, a maple that has blossomed in spring can dry out if an offended, deeply unhappy person touches it. Slavic ritualism also did not bypass maple - maple branches were used to decorate houses, gates and other buildings on various holidays. In the myths of Western and Eastern Slavs a person who was “sworn” turns into sycamore, often in these myths the mother - the poisoner of the child, and the wife - the poisoner of the husband acted as the caster. Many ballads were composed about the transformation of a man into sycamore; the musicians, passing through the forest where the sycamore grew, cut it down and made musical instruments that could tell them about the fate of the man turned into a tree and the guilt of the caster. Therefore, firewood was not harvested from white maple, coffins were not made, sycamore leaves were not put in the oven under bread, since maple leaves resemble a palm with five fingers.

The maple leaf has been both the official and unofficial emblem of Canada since the early 18th century. The official emblem of the maple leaf is on the flag and coat of arms of this country. The maple leaf became an unofficial emblem, having begun to gain more and more popularity and demand in Canada as an independent symbol of this country, depicted outside the coat of arms and flag. The maple leaf shows and emphasizes the unity of the nation.

Mostly the maple genus (Acer) is deciduous trees, less often shrubs, with the exception of a few South Asian and Mediterranean evergreen species. Maples are one of the most significant among broad-leaved deciduous woody plants. This is due to a large number of species and forms, decorative qualities, beautiful wood texture and its high physical and mechanical properties, the possibility of obtaining sweet maple sap during the active growing season, a positive effect on the soil, as well as the phytoncidal properties of this tree.

The genus maple arose in the late Cretaceous period and is one of the oldest genera of angiosperms. Many researchers consider Southeast Asia to be the center of angiosperms, and Primorye and Southeast China to be the place of origin of maples. Species diversity of maple trees in the European part of Russia and the Baltic this moment less than it was in the pre-Quaternary, due to climate change during ice age and the regressive changes in the abundance of species and range of the genus maple that occurred along with this. Today, the greatest species diversity of the most significant representatives of the maple genus is concentrated in the eastern part of Asia, in particular in China, in the eastern part North America and in Central America, maples are least represented in Europe.

There is still no consensus among taxonomists about the exact number of species that make up the genus maple. According to various sources, there are from 60 to 230 species. Such a large difference in the data is due to different understandings of the scope and species criteria by scientists. The ranges of species of the genus maple in the overwhelming majority of cases are concentrated in mountainous regions and areas where the largest part of the species of this diverse genus has been preserved. Maple is one of the most constant companions of oak. Maple trees rarely form pure stands, more often they are part of hardwood, mixed or coniferous-broad-leaved stands, and maples are predominantly shade-tolerant trees. A significant part of all maple species are mesophytes, capable of withstanding drought for a short time. It is interesting that there is a direct relationship between drought resistance (or moisture-loving) and leaf size in the maple genus, the largest leaves are in the most moisture-loving species.

You can determine the type of maple by morphological features leaves, fruits and overwintering shoots, as they are very stable.

The soil conditions optimal in terms of mechanical composition for most maple species are medium loamy, less often light loamy, fertile, moderately moist soils. Maples are predominantly mesophytic, some North American species are mesohygrophyte, and some Mediterranean species are xeromesophyte.

Most maples are propagated by seeds, some species can be propagated by layering - through the rooting of branches and shoots or cuttings.

Sap flow in maple trees begins in March, when the snow has mostly not yet melted, and the air temperature has reached -1-2 °C. When the air temperature reaches +5° С and more, sap flow is most intensive. When the temperature drops to -2 °C, sap flow stops. In the second decade of April, the vegetation begins in maples, depending on weather conditions timing may vary, leaf unfolding begins in the first half of May, and the length of the leaf unfolding period is 25 to 35 days. The timing of flowering in maples is not the same and maples are divided into three groups: early flowering (late April - early May), medium flowering (second half of May), late flowering (early June). Single-growing maples begin to bear fruit earlier than those that grow in a plantation. The maturation of lionfish occurs at different times, depending on the type of maple. Leaf coloring starts from mid-September and lasts until the second decade of October, on the northern side of the crown, leaf coloring begins earlier, the duration of autumn leaf color is from 20 to 30 days. Massive leaf fall begins in the second decade of October.

Characteristics of maple wood

Maple is a non-nuclear breed. The color of wood in most species is yellowish or pinkish with a reddish or brownish tinge, maple wood is pinkish, sycamore wood is white; maple wood tends to turn yellow over time. Many types of maple have a beautiful, varied wood texture. The decorativeness and beautiful pattern of the wood are given by narrow dark core rays, clearly visible in all cuts and especially in the radial one, they form a characteristic ripple due to their dark color and luster. The vessels of the maple are small and almost invisible to the naked eye, the annual layers are clearly visible on all cuts, the pores are unevenly located between the rings. The surface of wood is easily processed and polished, painted and covered with stain, as well as varnish. The wood splits well.

The physical and mechanical qualities of maple wood are valued much higher than those of conifers. The wood of all types of maple is heavy, finely porous, elastic, viscous, smooth, resilient, high-strength, slightly susceptible to warping, but when dried, it is subject to cracking, cracking and discoloration, therefore, it requires compliance with a certain drying regime. Maple wood is dense, the density ranges from 530 to 650 kg / m 3. The hardness of the wood varies greatly depending on the type of maple, with Canadian maple having the highest hardness. The wood of many maple species has high physical and mechanical properties, while slightly inferior to such species as oak, ash, beech, and in terms of such parameters as density and compressive strength, maple wood is on a par with oak, strength in static bending and the hardness of maple wood is about 12% higher than that of oak, ash and beech. Norway maple and small-leaved maple have the highest rates of physical and mechanical properties among maple species; they are almost identical in their properties. Field maple is inferior to them - in terms of specific work under impact bending, and Manchu maple - in strength under static load.

Conventionally, maple species can be divided into three groups according to the quality of wood.

The first, most numerous group includes moderately hard and durable wood, with a color from yellowish to pinkish, becoming more intense over time, well polished and, as a result, having excellent decorative properties. In the timber industry, the wood of this group is called the prefabricated word "maple". The second group includes more durable and hard wood, which, in addition, has a decorative pattern, beautiful texture, and a kind of soft sheen. Due to anomalies in the growth and development of trees, this wood acquires a beautiful unusual pattern and texture, which is called the "bird's eye". Such an anomaly of development is found in sugar maple, false maple, Trautfetter maple, as well as in single trees of Manchurian maple and Norway maple. In production, such wood is called "sycamore". Wood belonging to the third group is little used in the forestry industry and production, has extremely high strength and hardness and is very heavy.

anomalous wood

The anomalous bird's-eye wood got its name in Russian, probably as a result of the translation of the German word Vogelaugenahorn. A name similar in meaning to this wood with such a texture and in English language- Bird eye.

Studies do not yet provide an explanation of the reasons for the formation of the bird's eye wood texture, but it can be assumed that its formation is most likely associated with internal denormalizing factors that affect growth processes. Data on how often representatives of the maple genus with signs of bird's eye texture are found in different parts range, may be circumstantial evidence the fact that the violation of growth processes may be due to genotypic variability.

Table 2. Regions
natural distribution
maple

In the seventies of the 20th century, data appeared in the literature on the reasons for the formation of a similar texture of maple wood, which stated that its formation in sugar maple is a common phenomenon, and the characteristic decorative pattern is unevenly distributed in the wood, and in the process of making veneer of such wood, the pattern may disappear and reappear. Anomalous zones growth in wood spread along the radius to several annual layers. Externally, trees with anomalous bird's eye wood differ little from trees of the same species with normal wood. In sycamore, the formation of patterned decorative wood is associated with slow radial growth and the characteristic shape of the crust in the lower part of the trunk with depressions in it, resembling traces made by a sharp metal object.

Stocks of patterned sycamore wood in the forests of the North Caucasus and the Carpathians are very small and are declining every year. To prevent the disappearance of this highly valuable tree, it is necessary to take measures for its protection and artificial breeding, including using the method of micropropagation.

Representatives of the genus maple

Reaches up to 30 m in height and up to 1 m in diameter. Lives up to 150-200 years. The bark of young branches is reddish-ashy, smooth, darkens with age, becoming dark brown or sometimes black, and covered with numerous cracks. Shade-tolerant, cold-resistant, wind-resistant breed, especially in youth, demanding on moisture and soil richness, does not tolerate salinity and prolonged stagnant water. Prefers to grow on fertile light loamy and fresh sandy loams. Under natural conditions, it reproduces quite stable under the canopy of closed plantations by self-sowing and shoots. The root system is pivotal. The leaves are simple, have from five to seven lobes, dark green above, shiny, light green below, sometimes slightly pubescent along the veins. The flowers are yellowish-green, bloom at about the same time as the leaves open. Seeds ripen in September-October, with a bountiful harvest of seeds usually occurring every three to four years. The ash content of Norway maple leaves is 12.2%, the content of nitrogen and phosphorus in the leaves is 1.14 and 0.239%, respectively. Norway maple is very decorative in autumn, is a good honey plant, and is also recommended for planting as an accompanying species in shelterbelts.

A tree up to 18 m high and up to 50 cm in diameter with a beautiful hip-shaped dense crown. In favorable conditions, it can grow up to 25 m in height and up to 70 cm in diameter.

The tree is shade tolerant and wind tolerant, slow growing, prefers fresh and moist, well-drained soils, but can also grow in dry, rocky soils.

Run away ash- gray color, young shoots are yellow or gray, the base of the buds is dark brown, the flowers are light yellow. The leaves are almost always five-lobed, pubescent only in the corners of the veins.

Blossoms in May, fruits ripen in September, a bountiful harvest usually occurs every two to three years. The wood of the shoots is dense, grayish-white in color, used for making handicrafts and souvenirs.

This tree, reaching 15 m in height, often grows in a bushy form, being a tree of coppice origin. The bark is dark gray, the branches are grayish-brown, the flowers are greenish-white. The leaves are seven-lobed, less often - three to five lobed, pubescent below, bare above. Under natural conditions, it grows in the mountain forests of Central Asia on the slopes of different exposures, on fresh and wet soils, under the canopy of walnut and spruce.

A small tree, less often a large shrub, grows up to 7 m in height, the crown is ovoid. Undemanding to the richness of the soil, shade-tolerant, moisture-loving, cold-resistant. It grows in the second layer of coniferous and mixed forests, often along the banks of rivers and streams. The bark is yellowish-gray, young shoots are pubescent, reddish-brown, later becoming naked and yellowish-brown or brownish-carmine. The leaves are five-lobed, yellowish-green above, glabrous, pubescent below. The flowers are small, yellow, collected in many-flowered inflorescences, the tree blooms after the leaves bloom. Used in landscaping, is a good honey plant.

The tree, sometimes a tall shrub, reaches a height of up to 15 m, has a beautiful rounded crown. Shade-tolerant, winter-hardy, demanding on soil richness, grows on fresh and moist soils in the undergrowth, in partial shade of mixed plantations. The bark is brownish-gray, young shoots are reddish-brown, later becoming ash-brown. The leaves are shallow three-lobed, yellowish-green, orange-carmine in autumn. The flowers are greenish-yellow, bloom at the same time as the leaves bloom. The root system is superficial, fibrous.

Most often - a small shrub, less often - a small tree, reaching 6 m in height and 0.2 m in diameter. Winter-hardy, quite picky about soil moisture, grows on sandy-stony fresh, moist, damp and wet soils along the banks of rivers and streams. It is photophilous and does not grow under the canopy of a forest stand. The bark is bluish-red, later becoming brownish or brown. The leaves are three-lobed, the middle lobe is longer than the lateral ones, dark green above, lighter below, bright red or deep yellow in autumn. The flowers are collected in dense multi-flowered inflorescences, bloom three to four weeks after the leaves bloom. The root system is superficial. It is used in urban landscaping, tannins and black paint are obtained from the leaves, a good honey plant.

Deciduous broad-leaved tree, reaching 30-40 m in height and 100-150 cm in diameter, living up to 400 years. The crown of single sycamore trees is dense and spherical, while that of trees growing in plantations is wide-cylindrical, highly decorative. The bark is fissured, its color is from light gray to ashy, the bark of the shoots has a color from light brown to brown-gray, smooth, covered with shallow cracks on the branches. Buds pointed, ovoid, yellowish-green with a reddish tint. The leaves of the white maple are three-five-lobed, dissected into 1/3-1/2, sometimes deeper, dark green above, whitish or bluish below. The inflorescence is a multi-flowered raceme with small, up to 8 mm in diameter, yellow-green flowers. The ash content of white maple leaves is 10.2%, the content of nitrogen and phosphorus in the leaves is 1.18 and 0.252%, respectively.

The natural range of the white maple is the Carpathians, the Caucasus, the middle, southern, southeastern part Western Europe, northern coast of Asia Minor. It grows as single trees, sometimes in groups, prefers fresh and moist soils of mountain forests, less often - valleys, does not tolerate soil salinity, does not tolerate excessive moisture and drying out.

It grows throughout the entire forest zone of the Caucasus on moist brown soils, to a greater extent if they are underlain by lime-containing maternal soils. rocks. Sycamore is quite shade-tolerant and thermophilic, avoids southern slopes. White maple naturally regenerates best in sycamore and ash-sycamore plantations. Sycamore often grows in plantations with beech, the undergrowth of which can inhibit sycamore, therefore, special attention should be paid to timely thinning with simultaneous removal of beech undergrowth. In young stands of sycamore, especially in the first decade, it is advisable to carry out clarification every three years, due to the high maintenance requirements of white maple.

A beautiful ornamental tree, less often a shrub, reaching 18 m in height and up to 0.5 m in diameter, lives up to 100-200 years. Shade tolerant, drought tolerant, grows on dry and fresh rich humus soils as a second layer or undergrowth in broadleaf forests.

The crown is wide, up to 10 m in diameter, tent-shaped, dense, highly decorative. The bark is longitudinally cracking, brown-gray, the shoots are dull-ash. The leaves have three to five leathery lobes, dark green above and light green to yellowish green below, turning light yellow in autumn. The flowers are yellowish-green and bloom later than those of Norway maple. The fruits ripen at the end of September. It can be renewed by seeds, shoots, layering and root offspring.

Suitable for growing in urban areas, tolerates shearing and crown formation. It is a good honey plant, used to create forest reclamation belts, and field maple wood is used to make handicrafts.

A large shrub or spreading tree, reaching 10 m in height. Light-requiring, grows slowly, along forest edges, clearings, on rocky slopes on fresh and moist soils in mountain mixed and coniferous forests. The bark is smooth, yellowish-gray, the young shoots are green, turning gray with age. The leaves have from three to five almost uniform lobes. The flowers are yellowish, collected in 4-6-flowered inflorescences, bloom at the same time as the leaves bloom. The root system is superficial, very fibrous. The bearded maple is highly decorative and is a good honey plant.

A small tree or shrub with an oval crown, reaches a height of 9 m. It is drought-resistant, winter-hardy, tolerates soil salinization, gas- and smoke-resistant, grows on dry, fresh or moist soils singly or in small groups on edges, clearings, clearings. The bark is dark ash to almost black, the shoots are reddish-brown, pubescent in youth, later glabrous. Leaves entire or slightly lobed. Above - naked, bright green, below - pubescent along the veins and lighter. Flowers are white, fragrant. The root system is superficial, slightly fibrous. It can be renewed by shoots and layering. There is a lot of vitamin C in the leaves, up to 2% sugar in the juice, the tree can be used in landscaping, a good honey plant.

shrub or small tree up to 8 m in height. The crown is rounded or umbrella-shaped, lends itself to molding. Shade-loving, demanding on the richness and moisture of the soil, does not tolerate excessive moisture and dryness of the soil, grows slowly. The leaves have five to nine lobes that are bright green in summer, bright red in spring, and purple in fall. Purple flowers are collected in drooping inflorescences. It is used as a highly decorative breed in landscaping in the subtropical zone.

A slender tree, less often a shrub, reaching 8 m in height and 0.4 m in diameter, with a dense tent-like crown.

Shade-tolerant, grows on fresh soils, but does not tolerate stagnant moisture, grows in small groups along the banks of small rivers and streams on fresh and moist well-drained sandy soils, singly under the canopy of mixed and deciduous forest stands. The bark is light gray, darkens with age, young shoots are greenish or reddish, also darkening with age. The leaves are very beautiful, nine-lobed, dissected into 1/3-1/2, bright green in summer, red in autumn. The flowers are collected in long-stemmed inflorescences, bloom after the leaves bloom.

The wood is yellowish-white, hard, viscous, used for making small handicrafts. False sibold maple is a good honey plant.

Ornamental tree or shrub up to 12 m in height. Shade-tolerant, heat- and moisture-loving, winter-hardy, demanding on the soil, grows as individual trees or in small groups on fresh and moist soils in dense coniferous or mixed forests. The bark is smooth, green, becoming grayish-greenish with age, the young shoots are dark carmine. The leaves are wide, rich green above, lighter below, three-lobed, in autumn they acquire a yellowish-golden color. The flowers are greenish-yellow, collected in an inflorescence-brush, bloom after the leaves bloom. The root system is superficial, fibrous, with a pronounced tap root. The juice contains up to 1.5% sugar. It can be used in plantings, it has a high decorative effect due to the beauty of the bark, the shape of the leaves and their autumn color.

A tree with a straight trunk, reaches up to 20 m in height and up to 0.6 in diameter. It grows on moist and fresh soils in mixed and deciduous forests, most often in river valleys. Crown of the correct rounded shape. The bark is grayish-brown, the shoots are reddish-brown. The leaves are compound, trifoliate, dark green above in summer, lighter below, purple in autumn. Inflorescences bloom at the same time as the leaves. The root system is superficial. Used for landscaping, good honey plant. The juice contains up to 2% sugar.

A tree reaching 40 m in height and 1 m in diameter, with a wide spreading tent-shaped crown. It grows on wet and damp soils, including those with stagnant moisture, along river valleys. Grows well in moist organic and mineral soils, the largest red maple trees grow in swampy areas. The bark is dark gray, the shoots are red. The leaves are three-five-lobed, dark green and shiny above in summer, glaucous or whitish below, reddish-green in spring, orange-red in autumn. The flowers are red, less often - yellowish, bloom before the leaves. Trees growing in damp places have a shallow root system, while in dry and stony places a tap root develops.

Reaches up to 40 m in height and up to 1.5 in diameter, the crown is wide, with drooping branches. Shade-tolerant, cold-resistant, tolerates dry air, grows quite quickly on moist, damp and wet soils along flooded sandy banks of rivers. The branches are covered with light ash bark, the shoots are yellowish-brown. The leaves are five-lobed, bright green above in summer, white-silver below, pubescent when young, golden yellow in autumn. It blooms before the leaves bloom, the flowers are collected in small-flowered inflorescences. The root system is widely spread, sometimes going quite deep into the soil. The tree is used to produce maple sugar and syrup, as well as for landscaping.

Reaches 25 m in height and 1 m in diameter, often multi-stemmed, the crown is round or ovoid, with drooping branches. It is cold-resistant, drought- and heat-resistant, short-lived, grows quickly on soils - from fresh to wet, along the banks and valleys of rivers and lakes. Shoots are reddish-brown, sometimes dark green, often with a waxy bluish coating. The leaves are pinnately compound, the leaflets are usually three to five, but may be seven or nine. Blooms before the leaves open. The root system is superficial, but with a tap root. Widely used in landscaping. The leaves contain a lot of vitamin C. The wood is soft, brittle, brittle.

A tree reaching a height of 40 m and 0.5 m in diameter, living 300-400 years, has a dense, spreading crown. It grows on fresh, well-drained soils in the zone of mixed coniferous-deciduous forests. The bark is gray with a hint of ash or brown, darkens with age, the branches are red-brown. The root system is quite deep. Simple leaves usually have five lobes, in summer the leaves are shiny, bright green above, paler and rough below, turning bright red and yellow-orange in autumn. The flowers are small, yellowish-green, collected in clusters of 8-14 in a brush. The ash content of sugar maple leaves is 10.4%, the phosphorus content in the leaves is 0.236%.

Use of maple wood

The excellent physical and mechanical properties of maple wood provide high-quality material for sawmill production. In Europe, white maple and Norway maple are used as building timber, as well as wood for making furniture, in North America - sugar maple and black maple, called "American hard maple", silver maple and red maple, called "American soft maple". In East Asia, the small-leaved maple is widely used. Mostly maple is used to make furniture, and also use it in interior decoration. In the middle of the 20th century, maple veneer with a smooth or serpentine grain pattern, due to its beautiful natural color, was a sought-after material for exterior decoration and furniture design. But due to the tendency of maple wood to darken over time and acquire a yellowish tint, it quickly ceased to be widely used as front panels. Now maple wood is used for furniture finishing. Maple wood is also used for the manufacture of solid wood countertops, parquet and stairs, as maple is highly resistant to abrasion.

In the old days, light maple wood was used for the manufacture of not only furniture, but also various household and kitchen items, spinning wheels, rifle butts, shoe nails, wheel rims, ax handles, and oars. Today, maple wood is used to make household and kitchen appliances, toys, wooden parts of cars, turning crafts, and it is also used to make intarsia. Wood of a beautiful texture without cracks and defects, amenable to polishing, is used for making souvenirs. In addition, maple is a musical tree. Since ancient times, smooth-layered, hard, with a uniform arrangement of annual layers, sycamore wood has been used as decorative and resonant wood in the manufacture of bodies of stringed and wind musical instruments, soundboards and guitar necks.

Maples are good honey plants, an important source of pollen for bees in early spring, so they are often planted near apiaries. The honey productivity of maple reaches 100-200 kg per 1 ha of plantations. Maple is also used in medicine. In folk medicine, maple juice, its fruits and young leaves are used, due to its antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, tonic and analgesic effect.

The wood of the trunks and burls of certain types of maple is especially valued, which, as a result of the occurrence of anomalies during growth, has a decorative curly wood structure. Veneer is usually made from such wood for decorative furniture finishing.

The short-grained maple wood can be used to make pulp, for this purpose it is mixed with softwood pulp. It is possible to produce plywood of the highest grades from small-leaved maple wood, the yield of which from plywood logs will be one and a half to two times higher than from plywood logs of flat-leaved birch. Bark different types maple contains tannin, tannins and sugary substances.

Maples are used in ornamental gardening and green building for group and alley plantings and creating hedges. They are valued for the beauty of the crown and the shape of the leaves, the color of the bark, openwork foliage, rich green in summer and bright yellow and bright red in autumn. Almost all types of maples are used as ornamental trees, for many species, different garden forms have been bred, differing in leaf color or crown shape.

Since the spring maple sap of some maple species contains up to 3% sugars, and sugar maple - up to 4%, in some regions maple tapping is a separate industry. This trade is especially widely developed in the USA and Canada, where sugar maple is used on an industrial scale. As a result of the processing of maple juice by boiling and cleaning, maple syrup and sugar are obtained for the confectionery industry. The taste of maple sugar is different from the usual beet sugar, and some people prefer it.

Elena KARPOVA, Anton KUZNETSOV,
cand. biol. Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of General Ecology,
plant physiology and wood science SPbGLTU

Maple wood is considered one of the most valuable and useful among hardwoods. The color is predominantly white or light yellow, the density is 0.57-0.67 g/cm 3 , the physical and chemical parameters are very similar to woody oak. The later layers of annual rings are dark in color.

Maple products can be identified by sight: the material has unique core rays. The bending ability of maple material is high (almost like beech wood). Among the interesting features are the color change during the steaming process. The drying regime for maple must be chosen carefully, as this tree cracks and warps when it dries. Furniture is made from this tree. Well-dried wood holds its shape perfectly if it is standing indoors. A parquet board is made from maple, this is facilitated by the main properties of the breed: wear resistance and high hardness. High-quality plywood is made from small-leaved maple, in addition, it is of interest to designers who are engaged in interior decoration of apartments and houses. Mouthguards have an increased value, they are used to make beautiful decorative elements. In ancient times in Russia, solid structures were created from maple: rims, ax handles and even shoe nails. Maple is chosen for cutting on wood, sculptors create small models and figures from it. Talented artists create amazing things: they engrave the maple board, then paint the galleys and leave prints on paper. This process is called woodcutting or "wood painting" (from the Greek xylon - tree).

The largest percentage of maple trunks used in industry grow in mountain maple forests. They have III-IV classes of bonitet. Average annual growth: 1-2 m 3 /ha. Timber stocks are considered low: 120-160 m3/ha. During the period of severe frosts, damage to trees inevitably occurs and the rate of overgrowth and undergrowth increases many times, due to the drying of the crowns, an optimal level of illumination is obtained. Maple forests should be provided with appropriate care: periodic felling, including selective and clear felling, as well as narrow felling. The purpose of such cuttings is to increase the productivity of maple stands, including during their current exploitation (honey collection, tapping), obtaining wood and organizing conditions for a healthy stand.

Holly maple is of interest to breeders. Trees with crowns of pyramidal and spherical shapes, which have inclusions of red and white leaves, were selected and cultivated. Separately, such forms of white maple are singled out, in which an unusual structure of wood is observed. There is a direct relationship between the appearance of the bark and the internal texture of the tree. Some specimens of the tree are distinguished by the presence of small tubercles on the trunks, while their wood has an unusual pattern, which received the original name "bird's eye". Trees whose bark is covered with medium-sized cracks during growth, as well as those whose bark falls off the trunk in large pieces, often boast a bar with a fancy wavy pattern.

White maple lumber has respectively White color, often with an admixture of a brownish tint. In other breeds, a reddish color is observed, from time to time it becomes more yellow, this happens especially quickly under the influence of sunlight. Annual rings are clearly distinguished on each section. With a radial cut, light brown core rays can be observed. They resemble a mosaic of small ribbons. This creates a unique maple pattern, a special silkiness. The tangential section shows the medullary rays in the form of small lenticels, while the transverse section shows long narrow stripes.

Texture. The maple material has a homogeneous structure, annual layers are clearly visible on the radial section. In almost all trees, late wood is darker than early wood, the distribution of shade occurs according to a gradient type, there is no clear boundary. Things made of maple have a special charm due to the core rays. There are unusual wood patterns: individual forms of white maple, in which the bark has pronounced deep cracks, have a wavy texture. Those trees that have small tubercles on their trunks can have a unique and valuable texture, which is called the "bird's eye". Most often it occurs in sugar maple (North American species). The formation of such a cunning pattern is due to dormant buds, which at the right time did not develop into an escape. There is a curly pattern of wood, which is formed in the places of forks; this texture looks especially advantageous in veneer. A rich pattern is characteristic of maple burls.

Color. Below are the digital parameters:

tone characteristic - 582 nm;
color purity - 41.7%;
lordship - 41.7%.

Scope and uses

Maple is the most highly valued commercial tree (if hardwoods are considered). Since ancient times, craftsmen have distinguished maple material and have shown great respect for it. So, the notorious Trojan horse, which is described in Greek mythology, was made of maple. Among the negative characteristics, a low level of biostability and a quick color change can be noted. The last drawback can be eliminated by a simple treatment with mordants and stains.

Maple wood material has gained immense popularity in the furniture business. When properly dried, Maple has excellent shape stability characteristics when exposed indoors. Countertops for establishments Catering often made from maple. One should not lose sight of the possibility and expediency of using the material in tandem with other valuable rocks in sculpting, finishing, and creating inlays. It goes well with oak, fruit trees. It looks rich with beech, if there is no direct contact of these species in the product. Combines with metal and glass elements.

Maple veneer is used for decorative finishing of various parts made from less valuable species. Of particular value for artistic dressing is the wavy texture of wood and the bird's eye structure.

Maple parquet is valued for its high level hardness and wear resistance. Sugar maple is used to create heavy-duty surfaces: ballroom floors, bowling alleys, and so on.

Maple is an ideal material for the production of stairs and railings, as well as for decorative wall and interior decoration.

Maple veneer and its wood, due to its good resonant properties, are used for decoration and the complete manufacture of a wide variety of musical instruments, from percussion to strings. Maple is an excellent woodcarving material due to its high level of chipping resistance. This allows you to create ultra-thin trimmings, even and clear cuts. Amazing property maple wood is that chips will almost certainly be absent in any direction of cut. Previously, maple was often used for turning household items and utensils; literally everything was made from it: spoons, vessels, ladles. Maple raw materials were used for the production of handles of various tools, oars, planes, measuring and drawing instruments.

Mechanical, technological properties

Maple is more durable than oak. Maple wood holds screws and nails well.

Maple has good bending ability. Maple rocks are well prone to biological damage, while they are sufficiently well covered with protective compounds.

Maple wood exhibits good shape consistency and is rated as moderate to good.

When drying occurs, the wood material can crack and warp, so choosing the right drying mode is of great importance. Atmospheric drying of the material protected from rain and moisture is highly recommended. Maple has the ability to turn yellow when exposed to sunlight and drying at high temperatures.

Easy to work with any kind of carpentry tools for cutting and sawing, grinding, polishing; easy to glue, varnish, paintable.

Physical properties

Humidity. Maple is the least susceptible to shrinkage along the fibers (0.5%), the highest rate for volumetric shrinkage (11.5%). These data make it possible to characterize the maple tree as medium drying out.

Density. According to the wood density guide, maple has a density of 690 kg / m 3 (a sample is considered under standard humidity conditions of 12%, which corresponds to the state of the tree after atmospheric drying).

maple farsighted

Under normal conditions, the bark is dark in color, ranging from moderately gray to almost jet black. Old trees are covered with a large number of shallow cracks.

False maple

Maple false platinum (Acer pseudoplatanus) - the birthplace of this species is considered Western Caucasus, where the name from the local dialect "white sycamore" is more common. The tree itself can grow quite high, up to 30-40 m. The color of the trunk (whose diameter often reaches 12 m) is predominantly ash-gray. Such a maple is planted within the city limits, in parks and on the streets, creating fortification structures along the banks of canals and rivers.

In the North Caucasus region and on the Far Eastern land, you can find completely different varieties of maple. The following breeds grow here:

Ginnala Maple

The Acer ginnala shrub is large and can be up to 6 m in height, its trunk diameter is not too large and is 10 cm. The smooth gray bark is dotted with countless cracks.

Ash-leaved maple

Ash-leaved maple (Acer negundo) grows rapidly in the first years, the annual growth reaches up to 45 cm. Its bark is olive-green in color, over the years it becomes denser, cracks and acquires a brownish tint. The wood material of the ash-leaved maple is recognized as low-quality and serves as a raw material exclusively for the manufacture of decorative elements.

sugar maple

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) - has an exceptional height, adults reach 40 m and have a diameter of up to 50 cm. It is famous for its high quality, cutting boards are cut from this species. Sugar maple is durable and polishes easily; the structure can be characterized as dense, consisting of small layers. The core is slightly shiny and has a brown tint.

General information, places of growth

Maple (Acer)- one of the most widespread trees of our deciduous forests. But its role in the forests is small - it is only an admixture to the dominant tree species.

The maple family (Aceraceae), consisting of trees and shrubs, includes two genera. One genus is dipteronia (Dipteronia), which grows only in China. Maple itself (Acer) is the name of the second genus, represented by more than 100 species and more huge amount varieties and forms native to North and Central America, North Africa, in the southern half of Asia, throughout Europe.

These are dioecious plants with small yellow-green flowers. There are 4-5 petals and sepals, sometimes the first ones are absent. Maple fruits develop from flowers, they have a special structure. The immature fruit consists of two small winged fruits, pointing in different directions and fused to each other. But, having matured, they are separated and fall separately. It begins to bloom after the leaves bloom or at the same time with them. Blooming maple is always noticeable even from afar, because. in the crown of the tree on the bare branches one can see yellow-green inflorescences resembling loose lumps. Maple is characterized by the ability to fairly early germination of seeds. On sunny days, seeds can germinate even at zero temperatures. Right on the snow, they appear and a little later roots begin to grow. There is no other tree like this.

Early shoots are distinguished by the color and shades of the bark. Maple leaves are large, rounded-angular in shape, with pointed protrusions along the edge. Such leaves are called palmately lobed. Leaf blades always have radiate veins. In autumn, maple leaves turn purple, yellow, pinkish, brown instead of green, which immediately refers the trees to decorative look. It is impossible to ever see any damage caused by beetles or caterpillars on maple leaves; for unknown reasons, they do not touch the foliage of this tree.

The root system is predominantly superficial. Maple reproduces by seeds and shoots. He is light-requiring, for maximum collection of light he uses a jewelry folded leaf mosaic of the crown. Heat-loving, drought-resistant, suffers from frost in severe winters. Its sap flow opens much earlier than that of a birch. In the Moscow region, it usually begins in the last days of March, and sometimes (with prolonged thaws) - in February. Maple has the ability to "cry": even with a slight increase in air humidity, droplets ("tears") fall from the petioles of the leaves. As a rule, this happens a few hours before the rain. Maple lives 150-200 years. But there are also centenarians who live up to 600.

Maple varieties

Maples never occupy a leading position among other tree species, they are predominantly associated species in coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests. In the European part of Russia, the most common Norway maple (Acer platanoides)- tree height 20-30 m, approximately 100 cm in diameter. Its large broad leaves have a distinctive shape, they are not deeply incised into five pointed lobes, diverging in different directions, like the fingers of a hand. By the way, there are maples in the world, whose leaves are even more like a human hand with spread fingers, this is the far-sighted maple, for example, it is found in Korea and China. Leaf blades are dark green above and slightly lighter below. The crown of the Norway maple is very rich. The stem bark is dark grey, almost black. By old age, the maple trunk becomes covered with numerous shallow cracks. A very shade-tolerant breed, in this regard, only linden is its competitor.

Tatar maple, or black maple (Acer tataricum)- is a shrub or small tree 9-12 m tall. The bark is smooth, grey. Type of leaves: three-lobed, oblong-ovate, less often ovate, serrated along the edge, glabrous above, green in color, light green below, slightly pubescent. Demanding on the mineral composition of the soil, prefers fertile chernozems.

Field maple (Acer campestre), or paklen - tree up to 15m, diameter up to 60 cm. The trunk is brown-gray, curved. The lowest branches spread near the surface of the earth. The upper side of the leaves is smooth, the lower side is slightly fluffy. Can adapt to different conditions of soil moisture, more thermophilic than Norway maple, but also more drought-resistant.

False maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), or white sycamore in its homeland (Western Caucasus) reaches a height of 30-40m. Slender tree up to 12m in diameter. The trunk is gray with an ashy tint. Yavor is a representative of mountain forests, rarely descending into the plain. It is used to strengthen the banks of canals and rivers, as well as for landscaping streets.

The greatest variety of maple is noticeably different North Caucasus and Far East, are distinguished here:

Light maple (Acer laetum)- a tree up to 20-25m tall. Trunk diameter up to 40 cm. It grows slowly, does not bloom. Also found in the Middle East.

Manchurian maple (Acer mandshuricum)- a tree native to Primorye, northeast China, Korea. It can reach 25 m. With an openwork crown, red-brown shoots.

Ginnala Maple (Acer ginnala)- grows a large shrub, reaches 6 m, 10 cm in diameter. The bark is predominantly smooth, gray, with small cracks. The edges of the leaves are unequally toothed. It begins to bloom 10-15 days after the leaves bloom.

Ash-leaved maple (Acer negundo)- a tree up to 20m tall. In youth, it grows by 40-45 cm per year. Crohn with brittle branches, disordered, grows up to 10-14m in diameter. The olive green bark thickens, turns brown and cracks every year. Leaves up to 15 cm long. The wood of this species is the least quality. It is used, as a rule, as hedges, has a decorative value.

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)- trees of this type of maple reach the greatest height - up to 40 m and up to 50 cm in diameter. It grows well in the southern part of Russia, freezes in the taiga zones. It has a very high quality and valuable wood, which is used for the manufacture of cutting boards. Sugar maple wood is heavy, hard, strong, dense, fine-grained, well polished. Heartwood reddish brown. The texture of the core has a characteristic sheen.

Semenov's maple (Acer Semenovii)- a small tree (5-6 m), shoots are dark brown, leaves are three-lobed, the upper lobe is the most serrated and large, the type of inflorescence is a corymbose panicle.

Maple marble (Acer tegmentosum)- shrub 12-15 m, with smooth gray-green bark. The leaves are very large, rounded, green, with tufts of reddish hairs below.

They also recognize: Trautfetter maple, or alpine maple, Georgian maple, Hyrcanian maple, yellow maple, Komarov maple, false-sibold maple, bearded maple, diverging maple, Turkestan maple, Turkmen maple, Regel maple, pubescent maple, red maple, curled maple, or round-leaved , palm-shaped maple, or fan-shaped, Pennsylvanian maple.

Properties and uses of maple

Among hardwoods, maple wood is one of the most valuable. The wood is white or pale yellow, in terms of physical and mathematical parameters it approaches oak wood. The density of wood is 0.57-0.67 g/cm3. There are a number of features that distinguish it from other trees. The late wood of the annual layers is darker in color than the early wood. Heart-shaped beams give exclusivity and recognition to maple products. Maple wood has a good ability to bend (almost like beech wood), but when steamed, it changes color to yellowish-brown. During the drying process, wood can crack and warp, so you need to carefully select the drying mode. Maple is used to make furniture. Well-dried wood exhibits shape and size stability indoors. Hardness and wear resistance are the main qualities of maple parquet. Small-leaved maple wood is preferred to be used for the highest grades of plywood, for interior decoration; caps are very valuable. In the past, shoe nails, rims, and ax handles were made from maple. Distaffs in modern world no one makes it anymore, but you can’t find better wood than maple for fine, jewelry carving. Sculptors carve miniature figurines out of it. Artists engrave maple boards, cover with paint and make prints on paper. It turns out - woodcut, i.e. "wood painting" (in Greek xylon - tree, wood).

Maple is one of the few trees that have white milky sap. The release of this juice can be observed after the leaves bloom - the end of spring or the beginning of summer. The spring sap of some maples (especially sugar and sugar from North America) contains a significant amount of sucrose (in other species, fructose predominates) and serves as a raw material for the production of maple sugar (in particular, in Canada). The sugar maple leaf is the national symbol of Canada. Maples are decorative. All types of maples are good honey plants.

By the way, the Japanese believe that the beauty of autumn maple leaves is similar to the beauty of flowers. In Japan, even special guidebooks are created, which indicate the places from which a beautiful panorama of the groves and mountain slopes overgrown with these trees opens. As if trying to prolong the charm of autumn, the Japanese have developed varieties of maples that retain the red color of the foliage all year round.