Worth knowing:
The Katsuratree is a summer-green broadleaf with an elongated and conical crown made of steep and lofty branches. The brown-grey coloured bark of young trees is quite smooth in the beginning and becomes meshed later on. The early sprouting leaves of the Katsuratree show a real play of colours over the year, from multiple shades of red to an intensive green during summer and various yellow, red and orange tones in autumn. When the tree casts the leaves in autumn, the moist fallen down foliage creates an aromatic scent of cinnamon and caramel that reminds one of gingerbread, and puts one in the mood for the beginning wintertime. Tub plants grow up to 1,80 meters tall, while outdoor plants can reach double that height. Its botanical name, Cercidiphyllum, consists of Cercis, which means Judas Tree, and phyllum, which means leaf, since the egg-shaped leaves resemble the leaves of the Judas Tree.
Natural Location:
The Katsuratree comes from East Asia, particularly from China and Japan, where it grows in the mountain areas along riverbanks and mountain creeks.
Cultivation:
Seed propagation indoors is possible throughout the year. Keep the seeds sealed in a plastic bag in the regular refrigerator for about one week. Now you can spread the seeds onto moist potting compost and put a thin layer of compost earth on top. Cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out, but don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature between 20°C and 25° Celsius and keep the earth moist, but not wet. The first seedlings should come up after two to four weeks.
Place:
The Katsuratree can be kept in a light shade or sunny place, while it prefers moist earth and a high humidity.
Care:
The Cercidiphyllum is rather modest in its caring needs. However, due to the flat and often heart-shaped rooting without any runners, the plant requires accordingly sufficient water. From April until the beginning of September you should also give fertilizer for tub plants every four weeks.
During the winter:
Outdoor plants can easily resist frost up to -25°Celsius for a short period. Even tub plants can hibernate outdoors without any protection. However, the Katsuratree can be sensitive to late frosts because of the early budding. The top of the tree will be without leaves after the impressive colouring during autumn, therefore, it doesn’t need much light during the winter.
Picture credits:
- © © Jean-Pol Grandmont - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Jean-Pol GRANDMONT - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Photo (c)2007 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) - ! nochmal prüfen -
- © Sten Porse - CC-BY-SA-2.5 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5
- © Jean-Pol GRANDMONT - CC-BY-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
- © Jean-Pol Grandmont - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © - -
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