Red Maple

Red Maple

(Acer rubrum) Large tree with narrow or rounded, compact crown and red flowers, fruit, leafstalks, and autumn foliage. This popular ornamental tree grows 40-60 ft. in cultivation, occasionally reaching 100-120 ft. in the wild. Leaves vary from 3- to 5-lobed, with lobes separated by V-shaped angles. Male trees have notable pinkish red flowers in early spring, and females display decorative red samaras soon after. Young, vigorous trees have smooth, silvery gray bark which provides winter interest. Roots in a dense, fibrous network, often preventing other plants from growing near its trunk. Fall foliage is quite variable, ranging from the brilliant red for which the species is known, to yellow or greenish-yellow.

Red Maple is a handsome shade tree, named for its often red autumn leaf display. It has the greatest north-south distribution of all tree species along the East Coast, ranging from eastern Canada south to Florida and west to east Texas. Infrequent in forest; mostly found as understory.

Leaf: Opposite, simple, 3 to 5 palmate lobes with serrated margin, sinuses relatively shallow (but highly variable), 2 to 4 inches long; green above, whitened and sometimes glaucous or hairy beneath.

Flower: Attractive but small, occur in hanging clusters, usually bright red but occasionally yellow, appear in early spring, usually before leaves.

Fruit: Clusters of 1/2 to 3/4 inch long samaras with slighly divergent wings, on long slender stems. Light brown and often reddish, ripen in late spring and early summer.

Twig: Reddish and lustrous with small lenticels, buds usually blunt, green or reddish (fall and winter) with several loose scales usually present, leaf scars V-shaped, 3 bundle scars, lateral buds slightly stalked, may be collateral buds present.

Bark: On young trees, smooth and light gray, with age becomes darker and breaks up into long, fine scaly plates.

Form: Medium sized tree up to 90 feet. In forest, trunk usually clear for some distance, in the open the trunk is shorter and the crown rounded.

Range: The natural range of red maple begins roughly at the eastern edge of the Great Plains north to Lake Superior, extending eastward to the Atlantic. But homeowners and urban foresters are growing this tree all across the United States

Growing Conditions: The red maple grows in acidic, loamy, moist, rich, sandy, silty loam, well-drained and clay soils. It prefers wet soil conditions but has slight drought tolerance.

== Wildlife value: The fruits (samaras) provide food for squirrels and many other rodents. Rabbits and deer eat the tender shoots and leaves of red maples. == Timber Value: In the lumber industry, red maple is known as soft maple. Higher-quality grades of the timber may be used as a substitute for “hard maple,” which comes from Acer nigrum and Acer saccharum, especially in furniture. The sap of the tree can also be used to make maple syrup, an important non-timber forest product, although most commercially available maple syrup comes from the sap of the hard maple species.

Damaging agents: No serious insect or disease problems. Watch for aphids, leafhoppers, borers, scale and caterpillars. Verticillium wilt attacks the vascular system and can be fatal. Canker, fungal leaf spot and root rots may also occur. Wind and ice may break some branches. Leaf hoppers can cause substantial damage.

Lifespan: Red maple has an average lifespan of 130 years and Maximum lifespan of 300 years

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_rubrum

http://www.forestlegality.org/risk-tool/species/red-maple

https://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?ItemID=867

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=j170