Vine Maple
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 Vine Maple leaves
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| Acer circinatum Pursh |
Vine Maple (Acer circinatum Pursh) is a species of maple, native to western North America from southwest British Columbia to northern California, always within 300 km of the Pacific Ocean coast. It is occasionally cultivated outside its native range, from Ontario, Canada (where Ottawa seems to be its northern limit of survival) to Huntsville, Alabama (where it grows well).
It most commonly grows as a large shrub growing to around 5-10 m, but it will occasionally form a small to medium-sized tree, exceptionally as tall as 18 m. It typically grows in the understory below much taller forest trees, but can sometimes be found in open ground.
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The leaves are opposite, and palmately lobed with 7-11 lobes, almost circular in outline, 7-14 cm long and broad; the lobes are pointed and with coarsely toothed margins. The leaves turn bright yellow to orange-red in fall. The flowers are small, with a reddish calyx and five short greenish-yellow petals; they are produced in open corymbs of 5-20 together in spring. The fruit is a two-seeded samara, each seed 8-10 mm diameter, with a spreading wing 3 cm long.
Vine Maple trees bend over easily. Sometimes, this can cause the top of the tree to grow into the ground and send out a new root system, creating a natural arch.
It is closely related to the Fullmoon Maple (Acer japonicum) and Korean Maple (Acer pseudosieboldianum) from eastern Asia, and can be difficult to distinguish from these species.
[edit] References
Ashley, Anne & Ashley, Peter (1990). The Canadian Plant Sourcebook. Cheriton Graphics, Ottawa, Canada.
Buckley, A. R. (1980). Trees and Shrubs of the Dominion Arboretum. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa.
