Norway Maple

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Acer platanoides

FAMILY: Aceraceae

This tree in Colorado: Not as widely used here as in other parts of the country, where it has been over-planted. It is more tolerant of heat, drought and alkaline clay soil than most maples. Best below 6500’.

Hardiness: Some cultivars zones 4, others 5

Growth habit: Varies with cultivar, from rounded to oval to columnar.Size varies with cultivar; most will reach 40’ over time.

Growth rate: Varies with cultivar, slow to medium.

Foliage: Opposite, simple, 5-lobed, 3-6” across. Petiole is long, 3-4”. Some cultivars have rust to red-purple new leaves that fade to green by summer, others remain red-purple all season. Some of these may exhibit leaf scorch in our high sunlight intensity. Fall color varies but can be a very nice yellow.

Flowers: Greenish yellow, small, very attractive for a tree considered a shade tree. Flowering is in April prior to leafing.

Fruit: Twin samaras in fall. They form a straight line, unlike most other maple samaras, which form 30-90 degree angles.

Bark: Distinctive, gray-black with pronounced root flare.

Insects and diseases: Aphids are probable but controllable. If not controlled, large volumes of honeydew will promote sooty molds. Frost cracks of trunk may develop following fluctuating winter temperatures. Roots have a tendency to girdle the trunk. Roots are shallow and shade is dense, eventually limiting lawn grass under the canopy.

Landscape value: Medium to high for flowers, shade and fall color.

Best advice: Avoid planting within 6’ of sidewalks, which are commonly lifted as roots expand in diameter. Prune as needed in Nov-Dec to reduce “bleeding” sap that would be more prevalent if pruned in Feb-Mar.

Information sources: Michael Dirr, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (University of Georgia, 1998)

Photo by gardeningknowhow.com