Family Aceraceae - Maples - North American Insects & spiders (original) (raw)

sugar and black maples at the Morton Arboretum

Sugar and black maples at the Morton Arboretum

Maples are some of our most beloved trees. They offer a great variety of form, size, and foliage; many display striking autumn color. Maples grow to 45 meters (145 ft), or occur as shrubs less than 10 meters tall. Most are deciduous, but a few in southern Asia and the Mediterranean region are evergreen. Most are shade-tolerant when young, and are often late-successional in ecology; many of the root systems are typically dense and fibrous. A few species produce root sprouts which can develop into clone colonies.

Maple Leaves

Typical Maple Leaves

Maples are distinguished by opposite leaf arrangement. The leaves in most species are palmate veined and lobed, with 3 to 9 (rarely to 13) veins each leading to a lobe, one of which is central or apical. A small number of species differ in having palmate compound, pinnate compound, pinnate veined or unlobed leaves. [1]

Sugar Maple Sugar Maple Norway Maple "Crimson King" “Crimson King” Coleman Sugar White Tigress Maple White Tigress Maple Red Maple Red Maple

Maples are important ornamentals for lawns, along streets, and in parks. They offer a great variety of form, size, and foliage; many display striking autumn color. The red maple (A. rubrum) is one of the most common trees in its native eastern North America, where it tolerates compacted wet soils and city pollution.

Box elder (A. negundo) grows quickly to 30 – 50 ft (9 -15 m) and resists drought, so early prairie settlers planted many for shade and for wood to make crates, furniture, paper pulp, and charcoal. The watery, sweet sap of the sugar maple is boiled down for maple syrup and sugar; the wood of certain maples is used for furniture.

Green Mountain Sugar Maple

Green Mountain Sugar Maple

Schlesinger Red Maple - Acer rubrum 'Schlesinger' Schlesinger Red Maple Autumn Flame Red Maple - Acer rubrum 'Autumn Flame' Autumn Flame Maple Bowhall Red Maple - Acer rubrum 'Bowhall' Bowhall Red Maple Temple’s Upright Sugar Tilford Red Maple - Acer rubrum 'Tilford' Tilford Red Maple
Painted Maple - Acer mono Painted Maple Durand Dwarf Amur Maple Durand Dwarf Maple Freeman's Maple Freeman’s Maple Hedge Maple - Acer campestre Hedge Maple
Hairy-veined Maple - Acer barbinerve Bearded Maple Tschonoski Maple - Acer tschonoskii Tschonoski Maple Deep-Veined Maple Trident Maple - Acer buergerianum Trident Maple
Armstrong Freeman's Maple Armstrong Freeman’s Maple Japanese Maple

Amur Maple – Acer ginnala Armstrong Freeman’s Maple – Acer x freemanii ‘Armstrong’

Autumn Blaze Maple – Acer x freemanii ‘Autumn Blaze’

Autumn Flame Red Maple – Acer rubrum ‘Autumn Flame’

Bearded Maple – Acer barbinerve

Bowhall Red Maple – Acer rubrum ‘Bowhall’

Coleman Sugar Maple – Acer saccharum ‘Coleman’

Deep-Veined Maple – Acer argutum

Durand Dwarf Amur Maple – Acer ginnala

Flowering Plants Index

Globe Norway Maple – Acer platanoides ‘Globosum’

Green Mountain Sugar Maple – Acer saccharum

Hedge Maple – Acer campestre

Hornbeam Maple – Acer carpinifolium

Japanese Maple – Acer palmatum

Marmo Freeman’s Maple – Acer x freemanii ‘Marmo’

Norway Maple Tree – Acer platanoides “Crimson King”

Red Sunset Maple – Acer rubrum ‘Franksred’

Schlesinger Red Maple – Acer rubrum ‘Schlesingeri’

Shantung Maple – Acer truncatum

Snakeskin Maple – Acer grosseri

State Street Miyabe Maple

Striped Maple – Acer pensylvanicum

Sugar Maple – Acer saccharum

Temple’s Upright Sugar Maple

Tilford Red Maple – Acer rubrum ‘Tilford’

Tree Encyclopedia Main Page

Tree Encyclopedia Index

Trident Maple – Acer buergerianum

Tschonoski Maple – Acer tschonoskii

White Tigress Maple – Acer tegmentosum

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