Cultivation and utilization of sycamore tree

Sycamore, as an ancient native tree species, is mostly planted in the courtyard, which is legendary because of the legend of Indus introducing Phoenix. However, it is rarely used as a timber tree, and according to records, wood is used to make wooden boxes and musical instruments.

I. legends about beauty

When it comes to the legend of Wutong attracting Phoenix, I think of the story of "planting a sycamore tree to attract the golden Phoenix". According to legend, the Phoenix likes to live in the sycamore tree. In ancient times, it symbolized a good boy, and there was no worry that there would be no girl to marry you. The new era gives new connotations. As long as the environment is good, someone will come to invest. Sycamore becomes a symbol of beauty. Legend has it that in ancient times, there was an old man who went out to run errands. On the way, he came across a group of children laughing and competing to pick the fruits of sycamore. The old man touched the scene and chanted out the beautiful phrase "the boy beat the Tongzi, the Tongzi beat the boys". The poet expressed his feelings by falling leaves and sent out "the flowers bloom and the chrysanthemum is near the hedge, the tree under the leaves falls into a cold well", and "the leaves of Indus have fallen deeply in autumn, and the cold moon is full of sorrow." In fact, fallen leaves are not the senescence of trees, but the adaptation of trees to the environment.

2. Sycamore in Arboretum

Sycamore, also known as Qingtong, is a deciduous tree of the sycamore family. Young trees bark green, branchlets stout; green, leaves cordate, palmately 3-lobed, lobes entire, petioles as long as leaves; panicles, pericarp dehiscent into leaves, spatulate, seeds 2-4. Produced in the south of the Yellow River Basin to Taiwan, Hainan. Like light, drought tolerance, like calcium, can also grow in acidic and neutral soil, avoid dampness. Wood is light; leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds are used in medicine to clear away heat and detoxify; seeds are edible and extract oil. With beautiful stem shape and rapid growth, it is a garden greening tree species.

3. The past of sycamore

Chinese parasol tree trunk is tall and straight, beautiful tree posture, many solitary planting, or opposite planting in front of the door, but also as a street tree planted on both sides of the road, can also be planted with 3 or 5 trees. The Chinese parasol tree is straight and tall, the crown is shady like a cover, "A green jade stand, a thousand leaves green cloud committee", these two poems write incisively and vividly the green and shady scenery of the sycamore tree. Whether in the growing period or the dormant period, the landscape is beautiful. Due to a variety of reasons, sycamore is limited to ornamental use, but not for large-scale afforestation, the use of its wood is out of the question, and no one is interested in the harvest, processing and utilization of its seeds.

IV. The recent development of plane trees

In recent years, the author collects the relevant data of sycamore tree, and makes use of the opportunity of forestry project construction to carry out seedling introduction and afforestation. Through experiment and observation, the author thinks that sycamore tree is of great value for development and utilization. In addition to consolidating its position in landscaping, the processing and utilization of wood and seeds as food and oil should be increased.

1. Utilization of wood

Although sycamore has beautiful legends and stories, the number of trees in this species has been very low, and the reproduction of sycamore is not difficult, but when seed breeding is carried out, the seedlings grow slowly in the first two years; the survival rate of sycamore seedlings is high, and the growth rate is fast, the trunk is straight, and there are few diseases and insect pests. The wood material is exquisite, the color is white, the wood is compact, the texture is exquisite, can make musical instruments and furniture, is very suitable to do the raw material of processing plywood.

(1) cultivating jointless timber: sycamore is different from other tree species and has similar properties to poplar, that is, the terminal buds of seedlings do not die; because of their strong ability of natural continuous drying, even if headless seedlings are planted in afforestation, they can be naturally dried in the process of growth to form a straight trunk. The side branches of plane tree are rare, as long as a little shaping and pruning, it can be cultivated into jointless wood, which lays a solid foundation for the processing and utilization of wood.

(2) Fast growth and excellent quality: through the investigation of the plane trees planted sporadically in the past and in recent years, it is worthy of being a fast-growing tree species. The annual growth of plane tree is not worse than that of ordinary poplar. Under the condition of good management, it grows 2 meters in height and 3cm in diameter at breast height. The core wood of plane tree is white in color and clear in wood texture. in ancient times, it is often used to make musical instruments, the fiber length of wood, and its bark can be used to weave ropes, so the raw material skin of plywood made from plane tree is not only suitable for core board, but also more suitable for plywood fabric, which is incomparable to poplar.

(3) few diseases and insect pests are easy to manage: plane tree is a disease-resistant tree species. According to years of observation, plane trees are only harmed by a small number of leaf-eating pests, and there are no pests that harm the branches of trees. Unlike poplars, there are not only a variety of leaf-eating pests, but also canker disease, abdominal disease and longicorn beetles, resulting in fragmented bark and many wormholes, which greatly reduces the utilization value and economic value of poplar wood.

Therefore, sycamore is more suitable as a raw material for cultivating plywood. In addition, it grows fast and has few diseases and insect pests, so it is relatively easy to plant and manage.

2. Utilization of seeds

The seeds of sycamore trees can be eaten raw or fried after they are ripe, and they taste sweet. Seeds contain 36.69% fatty oil, 4.85% ash, 3.69% crude fiber, 23.3% protein, 28.45% non-nitrogen substances, and caffeine, etc., which can be processed into industrial oil.

5. The future of plane trees

There are three major prospects for the future of sycamore trees: the first is to set up a cooperative organization to carry out a national investigation of sycamore species resources, from which faster-growing varieties can be selected; the second is to do a good job in cutting and breeding of sycamore seedlings, to solve the problems of slow seed breeding and slow growth at the initial stage; third, to do a good job in deep processing of sycamore wood and seeds and prolong the industrial chain.