Categories
Herbs & Plants

Acer caesium

Botanical Name: Acer caesium
Family: Sapindaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Sapindales
Genus: Acer
Section: Acer sect. Acer
Series: Acer ser. Acer
Species: A. caesium

Common Names: Bluish Grey Maple • Urdu: Tarkanna

Habitat: Acer caesium is an Asian species of maple found in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and China (Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan) Generally found in open places such as grazing grounds. Isolated trees are found in coniferous forests at 2400 – 3800 metres in Kashmir.

Description:
Acer caesium is a deciduous tree, growing up to 25 m tall. Bark is is rather grey. Twigs are red-brown, hairless, peppered with dots. Flower buds are large, prominent in dormant season.Leaves are non-compound, with 5 shallow lobes, the blade up to 10 cm long, with teeth along the edges. Leaves are 8-20 cm across, palmately 3-5-lobed; basal lobes small, nerves 3-5. Leaf stalks are stout, 5-15 cm long. Flower arise in corymbs at the end of branches. Flowers are 5-merous, 5 mm across, yellow-green. Sepals obovate, 3-4 mm long, Petals shorter than the sepals. Fruit is a boomerang-shaped samara, 3-5 cm long. Wings are divergent, or sometimes overlapping. Flowering: March-May.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Cultivation:
Of easy cultivation, it prefers a good moist well-drained soil in a sunny position but tolerates some shade. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Chlorosis can sometimes develop as a result of iron deficiency when the plants are grown in alkaline soils, but in general maples are not fussy as to soil pH. Most maples are bad companion plants, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants. This species is closely related to A. giraldii.

Edible Uses:Not known to us.

Medicinal Uses:The juice of the bark is used externally in Nepal to treat muscular swellings, boils and pimples.

Other Uses:
The leaves are packed around apples, rootcrops etc to help preserve them. Wood – close grained, soft to moderately hard. Occasionally used for carving, bowls, cups etc.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_caesium
https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Acer+caesium
https://www.iiim.res.in/herbarium/aceraceae/acer_caesium.htm
http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Bluish%20Grey%20Maple.html

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

css.php