red maple (acer rubrum)
By Ftlombardo (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Acer rubrum (Red Maple, also known as Swamp, Water or Soft Maple), is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America. The U.S. Forest service recognizes it as the most common variety of tree in America. The red maple ranges from southeastern Manitoba around the Lake of the Woods on the border with Ontario and Minnesota, east to Newfoundland, south to near Miami, Florida, and southwest to east Texas. Many of its features, especially its leaves, are quite variable in form. At maturity it often attains a height of around 49 feet. It is aptly named as its flowers, petioles, twigs and seeds are all red to varying degrees. Among these features, however, it is best known for its brilliant deep scarlet foliage in autumn.
Over most of its range, red maple is adaptable to a very wide range of site conditions, perhaps more so than any other tree in eastern North America. It can be found growing in swamps, on poor dry soils, and most anywhere in between. It grows well from sea level to about 3,000 feet. Due to its attractive fall foliage and pleasing form, it is often used as a shade tree for landscapes. It is used commercially on a small scale for maple syrup production as well as for its medium to high quality lumber. It is also the State Tree of Rhode Island.
Over most of its range, red maple is adaptable to a very wide range of site conditions, perhaps more so than any other tree in eastern North America. It can be found growing in swamps, on poor dry soils, and most anywhere in between. It grows well from sea level to about 3,000 feet. Due to its attractive fall foliage and pleasing form, it is often used as a shade tree for landscapes. It is used commercially on a small scale for maple syrup production as well as for its medium to high quality lumber. It is also the State Tree of Rhode Island.
Acer Rubrum Leaves
Description
Though A. rubrum is usually easy to identify, it is highly changeable in morphological characteristics. It is a medium to large sized tree, reaching heights of 59 to 89 feet and exceptionally over 115 feet. The leaves are usually 3.5 to 4.3 inches long on a full grown tree. The trunk diameter can range from 18 to 30 inches, depending on the growing conditions. Its spread is about 39 feet. A 10-year-old sapling will stand about 20 feet tall. In forests, the bark will remain free of branches until some distance up the tree. Individuals grown in the open are shorter and thicker with a more rounded crown. Generally speaking, however, the crown is irregularly ovoid with ascending whip-like curved shoots. The bark is a pale grey and smooth when the individual is young. As the tree grows the bark becomes darker and cracks into slightly raised long plates. The largest known living red maple is located near Armada, Michigan, at a height of 125 feet and a bole circumference, at breast height, of 16.2 feet.
The leaves of the red maple offer the easiest way to distinguish it from its relatives. As with nearly all maple trees, they are deciduous and arranged oppositely on the twig. They are typically 2.0–3.9 inches long and wide with 3-5 palmate lobes with a serrated margin. The sinuses are typically narrow, but the leaves can exhibit considerable variation. When 5 lobes are present, the three at the terminal end are larger than the other two near the base. In contrast, the leaves of the related silver maple, A. saccharinum, are much more deeply lobed, more sharply toothed and characteristically have 5 lobes. The upper side of A. rubrum's leaf is light green and the underside is whitish and can be either glaucous or hairy. The leaf stalks are usually red and are up to 3.9 inches long. Furthermore, the leaves can turn a brilliant red in autumn, but can also become yellow or orange on some individuals.
Though A. rubrum is usually easy to identify, it is highly changeable in morphological characteristics. It is a medium to large sized tree, reaching heights of 59 to 89 feet and exceptionally over 115 feet. The leaves are usually 3.5 to 4.3 inches long on a full grown tree. The trunk diameter can range from 18 to 30 inches, depending on the growing conditions. Its spread is about 39 feet. A 10-year-old sapling will stand about 20 feet tall. In forests, the bark will remain free of branches until some distance up the tree. Individuals grown in the open are shorter and thicker with a more rounded crown. Generally speaking, however, the crown is irregularly ovoid with ascending whip-like curved shoots. The bark is a pale grey and smooth when the individual is young. As the tree grows the bark becomes darker and cracks into slightly raised long plates. The largest known living red maple is located near Armada, Michigan, at a height of 125 feet and a bole circumference, at breast height, of 16.2 feet.
The leaves of the red maple offer the easiest way to distinguish it from its relatives. As with nearly all maple trees, they are deciduous and arranged oppositely on the twig. They are typically 2.0–3.9 inches long and wide with 3-5 palmate lobes with a serrated margin. The sinuses are typically narrow, but the leaves can exhibit considerable variation. When 5 lobes are present, the three at the terminal end are larger than the other two near the base. In contrast, the leaves of the related silver maple, A. saccharinum, are much more deeply lobed, more sharply toothed and characteristically have 5 lobes. The upper side of A. rubrum's leaf is light green and the underside is whitish and can be either glaucous or hairy. The leaf stalks are usually red and are up to 3.9 inches long. Furthermore, the leaves can turn a brilliant red in autumn, but can also become yellow or orange on some individuals.
Red maple. (2007, May 5). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:28, October 17, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_maple&oldid=128524556