Tatarian Maple 15 fresh seeds, Tatar Maple, Tartar Maple (ACER tataricum)

Tatarian maple, or Black Maple, or Neklen (lat. Acer tataricum)

A small tree or shrub with several stems 2-12 m high. The bark is thin, pale gray-brown, smooth with dark grooves, and becomes covered with cracks with age. The branches are thin, angular, smooth or slightly pubescent, red-brown, with prominent leaf scars and short, wide, dark red-brown buds.

The leaves are simple, opposite, with serrate or biserrate edges, usually entire or with 2-5 lobes, broadly oval or deltoid, 5-11 cm long, half as wide in width, green above, paler below, pubescent along the veins. In autumn the leaves turn bright red and then fall off. Leaf petioles are 2-5 cm long, thin, often with a slight shade of pink.

The flowers are white-green with a slight shade of red, 5-8 mm in diameter, fragrant, on long stalks, collected in a thick corymbose panicle, appearing immediately after the leaves in spring. Provides nectar and pollen to honey bees.

Used in single and group plantings, hedges and as undergrowth. Valuable breed. Improves soil for larches, pines, birches, oaks, linden, small-leaved elm. Tolerates haircuts well. Resistant to urban conditions: gas and smoke resistant.

Undemanding to soil. Prefers light in composition, well-drained soils with slightly acidic and neutral reactions. Tolerates some soil salinity. Does not tolerate waterlogged and alkaline soils.

USDA Hardiness Zone: 3 (-40°C to -34°C).