Tree of the Week: The mayten
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Good morning. It’s a bright, clear and cool one in Bend, Ore., where I’m vacationing and sneaking in 15 minutes of blogging. Pieter Severynen’s ‘Tree of the Week’ is back, celebrating the unique urban forest of Los Angeles.
The mayten tree -– Maytenus boaria
Sometimes a garden design calls for a certain experience, such as the green curtains of hanging branches that come with a weeping willow, but the garden just isn’t big enough to accommodate a full-size willow. Luckily we have so many trees at our disposal here in the Southland that we can find smaller-scale substitutes to create the desired look of relaxation and informality. The mayten tree is one of them.
The mayten tree grows at a medium pace until it becomes an attractive round-headed to spreading tree. It easily reaches 30 feet tall by 15 feet wide or more. It looks like a dainty weeping willow, but unlike the willow, it is evergreen (a rare cold snap in the 20s would make it lose its leaves). The small, elliptical, 1- to 2-inch-long light green leaves have serrated edges and sit close together along the long pendulous branchlets that hang down from the branches. The tiny yellow green flowers are inconspicuous; seeds are small. Bark is dark gray and finely textured; the trunk does not become stout till the tree is middle aged. The roots are not invasive, but will sucker if damaged; it is best not to plant anything else close by. Deep and infrequent irrigation will encourage the roots to go deep and stay there. The Mayten tree produces a lot of (unwanted) side growth, especially when young, but this is easy to remove. ‘Green Showers’ is a selected variety of uniform, cutting grown plants.
The name ‘mayten’ comes from its Mapuche Indian name ‘mantun,’ while ‘boaria’ refers to cattle, which seem to like the leaves for forage. The tree is native to waterways in arid regions of Chile, Argentina and Peru.
Thanks, Pieter.
Posted by Peter Viles
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Photo Credit: Pieter Severynen