rubrum – red (Latin)

Native range: Eastern & Central United States

Leaves:

• opposite
• simple
• palmately lobed
• sinuses open to ~90 degrees
• serrate margin
• acuminate apex (tapering to sharp point)
• 3–5 lobes (2 lobes at base are smaller)

Flowers:

• flowers unisexual male and female flowers in separate (initially) sessile clusters
• flowers emerge before leaves
• fragrant
• very red
• 5 petals
• 5-parted calyx
• staminated flowers have 4–12 stamens
• small

Fruit:

• frooping, axillary clusters
• schizocarp on long slender stems
• 60 degree angle
• 3/4” across (~1.9 cm)

Other characteristics:

• grows 30–90 (100) ft. tall and 4 ft. in diameter
• extremely red fall color

Relevant info:

• red maple swamps (forested wetlands), are the most abundant freshwater wetland type throughout Northeastern U.S.
• in mesic upland communities of the Southeast, it grows as an overstory dominant with sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
• very popular street tree
• hybridizes with several other native species
• first cultivated in 1656
• many cultivars are now available

Ecology & Adaptations:

• native to Eastern North America from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, south through Missouri, eastern Oklahoma, and southern Texas, and east to southern Florida
• in northern states, red maple usually occurs in wet bottomland, river floodplains wet woods, and depressions; in Southern Appalachian Mountains, it occurs in isolated fens and bogs
• but in the midwest, it is absent from bottomlands and is typically found in drier, rocky upland areas
• pollinated by wind
• seeds dispersed by wind and animals
• seed germination:
  • requires light, so responds to gaps in forest
  • seedlings cannot tolerate wet conditions (they need oxygen to respire) so germinate in higher spots or during drought years
• vegetative regeneration – sprouts vigorously from the stump, root crown, or root suckers (stems sprouting from roots) after fire or mechanical damage
• wetland adaptations:
  • develop numerous shallow lateral roots instead of a taproot to gain better access to oxygen in low-oxygen soils
  • lenticels (pores) on twigs enable plant to absorb more oxygen that can be transported to roots, where it is used in respiration
• succession & restoration – in parts of the Appalachians, fire suppression has allowed maple stems to grow large enough and develop bark thick enough to enable them to survive fires as a result, restoration to pre-European contact conditions would be a very long-term process
• wildlife:
  • larval host plant for butterfly caterpillars
  • flower nectar attracts bees and other pollinators
  • seeds are eaten by birds
  • browsed by white-tailed deer, moose, elk, and snowshoe hare
  • stump sprouts are especially palatable to deer
  • screech owl, pileated woodpecker, common flicker and wood duck nest in cavities
  • blackbirds roost