Acer rubrum
Object Details
- Description
- Long valued for its beautiful fall foliage, showy flowers, and red samaras, the red maple is a very common tree in the eastern US. A. rubrum is such a successful grower that some argue it is the most abundant tree in the east, and is on its way to replacing other historically common trees in eastern US forests, earning the tree its spot on the Weeds of the Northeast list. Despite this, due to its beauty and ability to grow quickly in diverse conditions, red maples are still commonly planted as landscaping trees, and have been developed into several cultivars.
- Hardiness
- -40 - 30 F
- Bloom Time
- March to April
- Ethnobotanical Uses
- Sap can be used to make syrup, but sugar maple is more common. Pioneers made brown and black dyes from the bark, which could also be used to make ink.
- Medicinal / Pharmaceutical
- Some Native American groups used bark as an analgesic, a wash for inflamed eyes and cataracts, and for hives and muscular aches. Tea made from the inner bark could be used to treat coughs and diarrhea.
- Provenance
- From a cultivated plant not of known wild origin
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Gardens
- Accession Number
- 2011-2825A
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Life Form
- Deciduous tree
- Average Height
- 40-70', can reach over 100'
- Bark Characteristics
- First year twigs: bright red; young: smooth, light gray; mature: scaly gray brown bark
- Fall Color
- Greenish yellow to vibrant red
- Foliage Characteristics
- Opposite, 3-5 lobed, dark green above, bluish beneath, lobes triangular-ovate, unevenly notched serrate and acute; 2-4" long
- Fruit Characteristics
- Samaras, .75" long, wings at acute angles; often have some red color; observed to be ripe in June
- Key ID Characteristics
- Ash gray bark; clusters of flower buds; old bark not as shaggy or silvery as A. saccharinum; leaf shape; twigs have odor when broken
- Structure
- Pyramidal or elliptical when young; spreads with age and develops to more rounded or oval
- Range
- Texas to E. US; E. Canada
- Habitat
- Mixed deciduous forests, along rivers and lakes, marches, swamps, sandy plains, rocky slopes; 0-900 meters
- See more items in
- Smithsonian Gardens Tree Collection
- Common Name
- Red Maple
- Canadian Maple
- Scarlet Maple
- Swamp Maple
- Group
- [vascular plants]
- Class
- Equisetopsida
- Subclass
- Magnoliidae
- Superorder
- Rosanae
- Order
- Sapindales
- Family
- Sapindaceae
- Genus
- Acer
- Species
- rubrum
- Topic
- Trees
- Living Collections
- Record ID
- ofeo-sg_2011-2825A
