Firmiana SIMPLEX

Firmiana SIMPLEX - Chinese parasol tree, Firmiana simplex, Phoenix tree.

Can be grown in bonsai style!

Firmiana is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Sterculioideae of the mallow family (Malvaceae), previously included in the family Sterculiaceae. The genus, named in the 18th century in honor of Count Karl Joseph von Firmian, grows in nature in the subtropics of southern Japan, Indochina, and China in the wild. Firmiana was introduced to Russia in 1814 as a cultivated plant and is not widespread in the wild. It is currently cultivated in Crimea, Krasnodar Krai, Abkhazia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as an ornamental plant. Mature trees can withstand frost down to -20 °C (-4 °F).

In Asia, Firmiana serves as a source of wood for the production of the finest paper grades and bark for rope making. In China, the seeds are used to prepare a coffee-like beverage due to their caffeine content. The leaves of the plant possess medicinal properties and are used worldwide in medicine as a stimulant and tonic for fatigue, asthenic states, and hypotension.

Firmiana simplex is a deciduous fast-growing tree with a rounded or umbrella-shaped crown, reaching 9-12 m (30-39 ft) in height. The straight, smooth trunk is covered with grayish-green bark. The bright green 3-5-lobed large leaves of the plant, turning yellow in autumn, outwardly resemble maple leaves.

It blooms for the first time in July at the age of 6-8 years with unisexual lemon-colored flowers gathered in panicle inflorescences up to 25 cm (10 in) long. After flowering, in September-October, fruits appear in the form of leathery five-parted follicles 3 to 10 cm (1.2 to 4 in) long, containing grayish-yellow spherical edible seeds about 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter.

Seeds are stratified for 2 months in a cold environment at a temperature of 4-5 °C (39-41 °F). Under home conditions, seeds are placed in a refrigerator. Before planting, seeds are soaked in hot water for 12-24 hours, then sown to a depth of 2-4 cm (0.8-1.6 in) and covered with a layer of soil. They are moistened from a spray bottle, covered with film, and germinated in the light at a temperature of 21-22 °C (70-72 °F). Seedlings require ventilation. Overwatering and drying out of the sowings must be avoided.

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Firmiana is easy to grow. Undemanding to soils: it grows well on sandy soils, and at the same time, along the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, it grows wonderfully on alluvial impermeable soils. Thanks to its distinctive crown, it casts dense shade and is used as ornamental street plantings.