Deepening:
The maple yesterday and today
A bit of history…
The breed Acer
includes more than 200
spontaneous speciesand grows in alpine and subalpine areas, up to
1,500 m of altitude. It is a tree that supports very good the most
drastic prunings and it is suitable for different soils and climates:
for this reason was used as living substain for for rows of vines.
Its leaves area a good food for animals. The fruit, called dismara,
has a elic shape that makes possible its diffusion through the wind.
…Today
Thank to its elegance and to its colourful follage, today the maple is empolyed above all as ornamental tree to embellish gardens and boulevards. However this tree is particulary attacked by the asiatic beetle, the Anoplophora chinensis and so, in the areas of Parabiago and Legnano is forbidden the plantation of new trees. Its wood is one of the most used to build musical instruments: in particular it is employed to build the handles of the electric guitars and for the sides of violins. In United States and Canada, are cultivated sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and black maple (Acer nigrum), from whose limph is being extracted a sweetener syrup really appreciated. As it was the Iroquois Indians from Canada knew the fetaures of the maple's limph and they kneaded it in order to obtain sugar crystals.
