You are bidding on 20 ROYAL RUBY HEDGE MAPLE SEEDS - Acer campestre 'Royal Ruby .
This deciduous, shrubby tree vigorously grows 12-15' tall and nearly as wide. Young leaves in spring are purple becoming dark green by midsummer.
Flowers are insignificant. A copious crop of one-inch-long, winged fruit begin green and transform to deep ruby-red for notable ornamental effect and is the reason for the selection's name. From afar it looks as though the tree were in flower.
Fruit: Winged lobed seeds (samaras) 2" long & 1/3 -1/2" wide.
Zone: 5 to 8 Minimum temperature: -30° F
Medicinal use :
The bark is astringent and slightly anticholesterolemic. A decoction has been used to bathe sore eyes. The bark should be sun-dried and then stored in a dry place until required.
Edible parts :
The sap contains a certain amount of sugar and can either be used as a drink, or can be concentrated into a syrup by boiling off the water. The concentration of sugar is considerably lower than in the sugar maples (A. saccharum). The syrup is used as a sweetener on many foods. The tree trunk is tapped in the early spring, the sap flowing better on warm sunny days following a frost. The best sap production comes from cold-winter areas with continental climates.
Other uses :
The leaves are packed around apples, root crops etc to help preserve them. A fast growing plant and bearing clipping well, it makes an excellent clipped hedge and can also be used as part of a native wildlife hedge where it is only trimmed every 3 - 4 years. It has also been used in topiary. Wood - fine-grained, tough, elastic, hard to split, takes a high polish and is seldom attacked by insects. Trees are seldom large enough to supply much usable timber, but when available it is much valued by cabinet makers. It is also used for cups bowls etc. The wood of the roots is often knotted and is valued for small objects of cabinet work. The wood is an excellent fuel. A charcoal made from the wood is a good fuel.
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