Acer negundo

What to Eat

Edible parts: Bark, Sap, Seeds

The sap contains a reasonable amount of sugar and can be drunk as a refreshing beverage or boiled down into a syrup for use as a sweetener. One source considers it inferior to A. saccharum, while another rates it highly; notably, the sugar it yields is said to be whiter than that from other maples. To tap the sap, bore a hole on the sunny side of the trunk into the sapwood about 1 metre above the ground, from around January 1st until the leaves appear. Flow is best on a warm day following a frost, and trees in cold-winter continental climates are the most productive. The inner bark can be eaten raw or cooked — dried and ground into a powder, it works as a soup thickener or can be added to cereal flours for bread and cakes. It can also be boiled until its sugar crystallises out. Self-sown seedlings gathered in early spring are eaten fresh or dried for later use. The seeds, up to 12mm long and produced in small clusters, are cooked: the wings are removed, and the seeds are boiled and eaten hot.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. A plant native to north America. It prefers well drained alkaline soils. It does best in a protected sunny position. It is frost resistant but damaged by drought. It often grows on lake shores and stream banks. It can stand occasional flooding. It can grow in arid places. It suits hardiness zones 5-9. At Anvers Chocolate factory. Arboretum Tasmania.

Africa, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Britain, Canada*, Central America, Central Asia, China, East Africa, Europe, France, Greece, Guatemala, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mediterranean, Mexico, Middle East, North America*, Slovenia, South America, Spain, Tajikistan, Tasmania, Turkey, Türkiye, USA, Zimbabwe,

How to Identify

A shrub or small tree. It grows 5 m tall. There are prickles along the stem. The leaves are twice divided and there are 8-18 pairs of pinnae. There are up to 50 pairs of pinnules on each pinnae. The flowers are yellow. They are in large clusters at the ends of branches. The pods are flattened.

How to Grow

Of easy cultivation, succeeding in most soils but preferring a rich moist well-drained soil and a sunny position. Grows well in heavy clay soils and in sandy soils. Plants often become chlorotic on very alkaline soils. Plants are hardy to about -18°c. A fast growing but short-lived tree in the wild, living for 75 - 100 years. It is fairly wind-tolerant, but the branches have a tendency to break in strong winds. This species is cultivated commercially in Illinois for its sap. Another report says that this is one of the least productive species for sugar. A very ornamental plant, there are several named varieties. This tree is a bad companion plant that is said to inhibit the growth of neighbouring plants. This species is notably resistant to honey fungus. Very tolerant of pruning, it can regenerate from old wood if it is cut back hard. Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.

Propagation: Seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame, where it usually germinates the following spring. Stored seed should be pre-soaked for 24 hours and then stratified for 2–4 months at 1–8°C, though germination can be slow. Seed can be harvested green — fully developed but before drying and producing germination inhibitors — and sown immediately for late-winter germination. Seed harvested too early will produce very weak plants or none at all. Prick seedlings into individual pots once large enough to handle and grow on until 20cm or more tall before planting out permanently. Layering takes about 12 months and works well with most species in this genus. Cuttings of young shoots taken in June or July should carry 2–3 pairs of leaves plus one pair of buds at the base; remove a thin slice of bark at the base and use a rooting hormone. Rooted cuttings must produce new growth during the summer before being potted up, or they are unlikely to survive the winter. Cuttings of this species tend to root easily. Budding onto A. negundo in early summer is usually successful, but the bud should develop a small shoot in the same summer or it is unlikely to make it through winter.

Medicinal Uses

A tea made from the inner bark is used as an emetic.

Other Uses

Leaves packed around apples, root crops, and similar produce help preserve them. The tree is fairly wind-tolerant and can be included in mixed shelterbelt plantings. The wood is soft, weak, light, and close-grained, weighing 27lb per cubic foot; it has little commercial value but is used for boxes, cheap furniture, pulp, and fuel. Large trunk burls and knots have traditionally been used to make drums.

Acer negundo, also known as the box elder, boxelder maple, Manitoba maple or ash-leaved maple, is a species of maple native to North America from Canada to Honduras. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with opposite, ash-like compound leaves. It is sometimes considered a weedy or invasive species, and has been naturalized throughout much of the world, including South America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, much of Europe, and parts of Asia.

Production

It is a fast growing tree. Trees live for 60 years.

Notes

There are about 120-150 Acer species. This one can become invasive.

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