Robinia pseudoacacia ?
- To: "'m*@ucdavis.edu'" <m*@ucdavis.edu>
- Subject: Robinia pseudoacacia ?
- From: G* F* <l*@collegiate.school.nz>
- Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 14:08:53 +1200
Further to Alessandra's posting on 3/22/99:
"Robinia pseudacacia L. THE pest.
BTW, local Public green consultants still plant Robinia umbraculifera in
parking lots and new parks, on the ground it is a fast grower and does
not
bloom (for allergies etc). Of course it is grafted on Pseudacacia and of
course after a short while, and no maintenance, the invader starts to
send
suckers everywhere, kills the scion and conquers a new area"
I would love to know the name of trees growing (& suckering) on
my property, which could be Robinia pseudoacacia, but on the
other hand might well be something else!! What ever, they are
a real nuisance, suckering for metres from the original trees,
and every so often there appears an outgrowth of foliage (when
I had my woolly lawnmowers (i.e. sheep) keeping the grass
down, they took care of these too). I am no botanist, so you
will have to make what you can of my description!
The trees are still flowering, having started in mid/late January
(July/September northern hemisphere equivalent) - the flowers
are butter yellow balls 5 millimetres across when fully out, with
a "fuzzy" appearance; when in bud each is 2mm diameter, almost
lime green in colour; arranged with 9 -10 on each flower stalk
The leaves are what I see described in a catalogue as bipinnate.
The trees themselves are probably up to 10 metres (33 feet)
high, evergreen, hard wood to cut through, trunks up to 300mm
1 foot in diameter.
>From my very vague description, can anyone help?? My concern is
how I can forestall the constant suckering, which is thriving on the
attention I am giving to newly planted trees. Is it worth trying to
expose the suckering roots, drill holes in them & force some kind of
weedkiller into them. The trees themselves have apparently migrated
over the years nearer to a stormwater ditch running along the boundary
between my neighbour & myself, presumably for the moisture available
there, but there are still these suckers appearing anything up to 20
metres away from the "parent" tree. Do we need to deal to these as
well for the best effect - cut off at ground level & poison stumps as
well. Am I tackling the impossible?? Help!
Yesterday we had our first real rain for several weeks - February
rainfall 10mm (half an inch), March about 17mm (3/4 of an inch)
and then a further, wonderful 24mm. (one inch) over the last 24
hours - oh bliss!! This was accompanied by the first real dip in
temperature, signalling the onset of autumn - somehow I won't
be sad to see the end of this long hot summer, but we will need
several more falls to penetrate the dry ground for any long term
benefit.
Belladonna lilies are flowering (amaryillis), roses producing a
final flush, early camellias budding up nicely, but everything
else is looking a bit bedraggled - it's cut-back-&-tidy-up time!!
(Early) Easter wishes to you all!
Frances Gibbons,
Wanganui, NZ.
