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Acer rubrum |
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Red Maple
or Swamp Maple |
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Eastern and Central North America |
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Upright, with ascending
branches, forming a narrow or oval head. |
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40-60 feet tall with a similar
spread. |
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Plants are usually
dioecious.
Flowers are red, borne in dense clusters before
the leaves, showy. |
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April |
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Leaves are opposite, simple,
2-4 inches long, 3 lobed (occasionally 5 lobed),
with triangular sinuses, irregularly toothed,
medium green on top, whitish below, usually with
a red petiole. |
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Fall color is yellow to a
brilliant red, developing color early. |
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Buds are red to green,
clustered, with rounded bud
scales. |
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Bark is light gray and smooth
on a young tree, gradually becoming dark gray
and rougher. |
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Fruit is a samara, 2-3 inches
long, reddish in color, turning brown in
May-June. |
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- 'Columnare'
- narrow columnar form, one-half
as wide as it is tall.
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First of all, don't confuse the species Red Maple with
the commonly grown cultivars of 'Crimson King' or 'Crimson Queen' maples. Even though the leaves are
reddish throughout the season, they are NOT red maples.
They are cultivars of another species, the
Norway maple (Acer
platinoides), which has large leaves that cast a
very heavy shade.
Acer rubrum has smaller, three lobed leaves
that are green during the growing season and turn a
bright red in the fall. In the spring, red maples give
off a red glow because of the red buds. The are medium
sized trees which are great for urban, suburban lots and
their roots are not as shallow as the
silver maple (Acer
saccharinum).
This is also a species that will tolerate a wet site
and is used in these situations along with
River Birch (Betula nigra
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