The Story of Trees by West David;Hobbs Kevin;

Author:West, David;Hobbs, Kevin;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Laurence King Publishing

Acer negundo (Sapindaceae)

BOXELDER

Native American Music

Acer negundo has many names, of which the most common is boxelder, although it isn’t really an elder, but a maple. Its wood is similar in colour to box wood (see here), but nowhere near as durable. The foliage is similar to that of the elder or elderberry (Sambucus sp.). It is the only maple species with compound leaves that is native to North America, where in many areas it is considered a weed.

The harsh truth is that boxelder is a hard tree to love. It is fast-growing but short-lived. Its timber is low grade, and today mainly used as pulp for fibreboard. It is commonly infested with the boxelder bug (Boisea trivittata), a smart but smelly 1 cm (½ inch) black insect with a red edging. Clusters of these creatures often invade homes in autumn, when they seek a warm refuge for the winter.

However, back in the eighteenth century most Native American tribes made good use of the tree right across the continent, and not only as firewood. Some tribes used charcoal from boxelder wood for ceremonial painting and tattooing. Like that of the sugar maple (see here), the sap of the boxelder wood is rich in natural sugars, and most tribes learned to tap trees to make drinks and medicines as well as both syrup and crystalline sugar. Because the core wood of the young branches is pithy and soft, it was easily removed. The twigs could then be hollowed out to make pipes, bellows and flutes. Acer negundo has been identified as the material used to make Anasazi flutes, instruments that date from AD 620–70 and span a little over one and a half octaves, with a warm, rich tone. Examples of these ancestral Puebloan musical instruments were discovered intact during an archaeological dig in Arizona in 1931.

There are numerous ornamental selections of boxelder that have been selected and named over the years that now adorn parks and gardens. These include a subspecies from California in which the male form has showy pink flowers in pendulous tassels. There are various forms with variegated and golden foliage, too. A recently named selection called ‘Winter Lightning’ has bright yellow leaves and golden young stems, and can be coppiced for good effect in a winter garden.

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