Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)
Appearance: A tree that sheds its leaves for winter, grows up approximately 12 m in height, rarely more and only in his homeland reaches a height above 20 meters. Longitudinal-conical crown. ends with the usual slender, thin top. It happens, that the tree sometimes has many trunks.
The branches give it a very regular form, They are slender and steeply erect. Twigs protrude straight or only slightly arched hanging. Shoots very slender, straight or slightly bent, greenish-brown, usually a different color on the upper and lower sides. Shiny donuts, dark brown, very small – they only achieve 1 mm in length. Opposite leaves of length 6-12 cm and width up to 6 cm. full edge, wide and oval to roundish, at the front very briefly sharpened, and at the base deeply heart-shaped indented. Sometimes the edges mean very delicate, blunt teeth. 2 top leaves are dull, green or gray-green and naked, and underneath-distinctly bluish-green. Petioles have 3-6 cm long and are dark red in color. Dioecious tree. Male flowers consist almost exclusively of bunches of reddish stamens and stand in large numbers in the groin of buds. Female flowers, the same in bunches standing in the groin of donuts, they pay attention to their twisted, red birthmarks length of about 5 millimeters. Flowers appear before the development of-1 eat leaves, Fruits in the form of bellows are shiny, light green and bent in the shape of claws.
Occurrence: Katsura grows wild in Japan and China, creating loose stands of trees there. For about a hundred years, however, this species has also been planted in large parks as an ornamental tree.. Due to its refined flowers and wonderful autumn discoloration of leaves, it is certainly one of the most attractive deciduous trees, which from East Asia have reached the West and can be grown here.
Flowering period: April.
General thoughts: A peculiar feature of katsura. which, however, often remains my notice, there are two forms of leaf, Only on long-stems are the leaves opposite and pinnate innervated. They make up the majority. On the short shoots, on the other hand, the leaves stand twistolegle, and their innervation is palmate, This variegatedness is considered a relatively primary feature. Similarly, the characteristics of flowers must be evaluated. The flowers are unisexual and divided into different individuals (dioecious). Female flowers consist of only one fruit-eater, which at puberty develops into one multi-seeded follicle. It opens on the abdominal suture and releases a lot of small, Flat, winged seeds. Such an accumulation of primordial traits is found in no other family among the Dicotyledons.. Cercidfphyilaceae, anyway, a monotypic family represented only by this one species. thus, they occupy a fairly isolated position in the system of flowering plants. They show some references to magnolia, as well as for witch hazel, however, not being in fact more closely related to them. Leaves, in autumn delicate salmon color, shortly before falling, they emit a characteristic smell of gingerbread, For this reason, katsura is also called the "cake tree".”, However, this interesting aroma of leaves cannot be used, because it disappears when drying leaves. Its chemical structure has been known,