The difference between French sycamore, paulownia and sycamore

Sycamore is a deciduous tree of sycamore family, and it is not related to paulownia (Euphorbiaceae), paulownia of Scrophulariaceae and sycamore (Platycladaceae).

The sycamore tree is tall and burly, with a jointless trunk, rising upward, holding a huge emerald-like green umbrella, holding high momentum. The bark is smooth and green, the leaves are thick, from the branch to the branch, a lush, elegant and clean, no wonder people call it "Qingtong". "A green jade stand, a thousand leaves green cloud committee", these two poems, the Indus green leaves dry, Tongyin whirling scenery written incisively and vividly.

Sycamore is a beautiful ornamental plant, embellished in the garden, in front of the house, but also planted as street trees. Leaves palmate, lobed like flowers. Summer flowering, monoecious, flowers small, yellowish green, panicles, when in full bloom appears bright and bright. According to folklore, the Phoenix likes to live on the sycamore tree, and Li Bai also has a poem that "I would rather know the meaning of the Phoenix than in front of the chair." In fact, it's just people's hope for a better life.

The ancient book says that sycamore can "know leap" and "know autumn". It is said that it has 12 leaves on each branch, 6 leaves on one side, and 13 leaves in leap years. This is deduced by accident and coincidence. in fact, there is no such natural law. As for "knowing autumn" is a kind of phenology and law, "sycamore leaves fall, the world knows autumn", both scientific and poetic.

Poets observe the falling leaves, lyric through the scenery, send out endless regret and emotion, to chant their own life experience. "the flower blossoms, the chrysanthemum is near the hedge, the fallen tree under the leaves falls into the cold well", "the Chinese parasol leaves fall deep in autumn, and the cold moon is full of sorrow." In fact, defoliation is not a sign of tree aging, but a tree that adapts to the environment and prepares for the germination of the Spring Festival when it enters the dormancy of resistance to cold and drought.

Sycamore is produced in China and Japan. It likes light, deep moist soil and fast growth. The fruit is divided into five segments, which split into small boats before ripening, and the seeds are born at the edge. Two kinds of sycamore are produced in China, one is sycamore. One is sycamore in Yunnan. The bark of sycamore in Yunnan is rough and grayish black, and the leaf margin is generally trifid.

Plane tree has compact wood and fine texture, which can be used to make musical instruments and furniture. Bark fibers can be made into paper and ropes. Seeds can be eaten or pressed for oil. Leaves are used as medicine or pesticide.

The "French sycamore", a famous street tree in the world, is often seen in parks and roadsides in China. In fact, this is misinformation and misinformation. Chen Zhi, a horticulturist in China, identified it as "hanging Suzuki". The so-called "French sycamore" is only one kind of Suzuki. It turns out that there are 8 species in the genus Platanus, native to North America. Mexico, the Mediterranean and India. There are 3 kinds of plants introduced into China. The fruit of the peduncle of Platanus acerifolia, some have 1 fruit ball, some have 2 fruit balls, and some have more than 3 fruit balls, so their names are different, which are called one-ball, two-ball and three-ball Platanus trees, respectively. These are three different species.

Why is Suzuki called "French sycamore"? it turns out that this kind of tree, with leaves like sycamore, is mistaken for sycamore, and "French sycamore" is not produced in France. In the 17th century, in Oxford, England, people used one-ball Platanus tree (also known as sycamore) and three-ball Platanus tree (also known as French sycamore) as parents to form a two-ball Platanus tree, named "English sycamore". Because it is a hybrid, there is no origin. After being widely cultivated in Europe, the French brought it to Shanghai and planted it on Xiafei Road (now used as a street tree in the middle of Huaihai Road). People call it "French sycamore". They follow others and regard it as a plane tree.

The parent of two-ball Platanus przewalskii, also known as split-leaf Platanus przewalskii, Kumaroshi tree. In 401 AD, the eminent Indian monk Jiumarosh went to China to spread Buddhism, carrying the tree and planting it in front of the ancient temple in Huxian County near Xi'an. This is the earliest introduced Platanus orientalis in China. Unfortunately, this kind of three-ball Platanus przewalskii has not been promoted in Xi'an, where the street trees are two-ball Platanus trees introduced from Shanghai.

Another parent, Platanus acerifolia, is native to North America. It has been introduced and planted in Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing, Qingdao and other places. Nowadays, two-ball Platanus trees are widely used as street trees in Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Xi'an, Zhengzhou and other cities.

The Chinese sycamore tree is very straight like a poplar tree (which is one of the reasons why it is used to make a zither body), its leaves are triangular star-shaped, and the trunk is generally not thick. In autumn, the leaves turn yellowish, very poetic. The fruit is a spherical solid fruit, about 4-5 mm in diameter, with a thin shell that can be eaten raw or fried, very fragrant. It is sold in Beijing farmers' market in season, but it is a waste of time. It is certainly better than your pecans in Zhejiang, just like pomegranates. Pomegranates are really good-looking and a waste of time to eat. Chinese sycamore is not suitable for shade.

On the other hand, French sycamore has a thick trunk (not very thick, thicker than Chinese sycamore) and its leaves are triangular star-shaped, but much larger. The fruit is too small to eat. The leaves turn brown in autumn, so they are certainly not as good-looking as the leaves of Chinese sycamore. The crown is very large, and because of the large leaves, almost completely block out the sun above the crown, so it is most suitable to be a sidewalk shade tree.

Paulownia is a fast-growing and strong positive tree species, which likes warmth, fertilizer, moist and afraid of water flooding, and its growth is inhibited when the temperature is above 38 ℃. It is not easy to survive afforestation in low-lying waterlogged land because of freezing injury when the absolute lowest temperature is-20 ℃. The soil is slightly acidic to neutral, and the calcareous soil is not growing well.