Acer macrophyllum

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Acer macrophyllum
Acer macrophyllum 1199.jpg
Bigleaf maple foliage

Secure (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Sapindales
Family:
Sapindaceae[1]
Genus:
Acer
Species:
A. macrophyllum
Binomial name
Acer macrophyllum
Pursh 1813
Acer macrophyllum range map 1.png
Natural range of Acer macrophyllum
Synonyms
List
  • Acer auritum Greene
  • Acer dactylophyllum Greene
  • Acer flabellatum Greene 1912 not Rehder 1905
  • Acer hemionitis Greene
  • Acer leptodactylon Greene
  • Acer murrayanum Dippel
  • Acer palmatum Raf. 1836 not Thumb. 1784
  • Acer platypterum Greene
  • Acer politum Greene
  • Acer stellatum Greene

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Acer macrophyllum, the bigleaf maple[2] or Oregon maple,[3] is a large deciduous tree in the genus Acer.

It can grow up to 48.89 metres (160.4 ft) tall,[4][5] but more commonly reaches 15–20 metres (49–66 ft) tall. It is native to western North America, mostly near the Pacific coast, from southernmost Alaska to southern California. Some stands are also found inland in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California, and a tiny population occurs in central Idaho.[6][7][8]

Description

The 10–15-centimetre (3.9–5.9 in)-long raceme of greenish-yellow flowers appear as the leaves are developing in the spring.

It has the largest leaves of any maple, typically 15–30 centimetres (5.9–11.8 in) across, with five deeply incised palmate lobes, with the largest running to 61 centimetres (24 in).[9][10] In the fall, the leaves turn to gold and yellow, often to spectacular effect against the backdrop of evergreen conifers.

The flowers are produced in spring in pendulous racemes 10–15 centimetres (3.9–5.9 in) long, greenish-yellow with inconspicuous petals. The fruit is a paired winged samara, each seed 1–1.5 centimetres (0.39–0.59 in) in diameter with a 4–5-centimetre (1.6–2.0 in) wing.[6][10][9]

In the more humid parts of its range, as in the Olympic National Park, its bark is covered with epiphytic moss and fern species.

Habitat

Bigleaf maple can form pure stands on moist soils in proximity to streams, but are generally found within riparian hardwood forests or dispersed, (under or within), relatively open canopies of conifers, mixed evergreens, or oaks (Quercus spp.)[11][7] In cool and moist temperate mixed woods they are one of the dominant species.[12] It is very rare north of Vancouver Island though cultivated in Prince Rupert,[13] near Ketchikan and in Juneau.[14]

Uses

Bigleaf maple has been used for creating syrup but it is not common. This is because Sugar Maple has a higher sugar content.

Lumber

Bigleaf maple is the only commercially important maple of the Pacific Coast region.[11]

The wood is used for applications as diverse as furniture, piano frames and salad bowls. Highly figured wood is not uncommon and is used for veneer, stringed instruments, guitar bodies, and gun stocks.

The wood is primarily used in veneer production for furniture, but is also used in musical instrument production, interior paneling, and other hardwood products; the heartwood is light, reddish-brown, fine-grained, moderately heavy, and moderately hard and strong.[15] Lakwungen First Nations people of Vancouver Island call it the paddle tree and used it to make paddles and spindle wheels.[citation needed]

In California, land managers do not highly value bigleaf maple, and it is often intentionally knocked over and left un-harvested during harvest of Douglas fir and redwood stands.[16]

Bigleaf maple in the McKenzie River valley in western Oregon

Food

Maple syrup has been made from the sap of bigleaf maple trees.[17] While the sugar concentration is about the same as in Acer saccharum (sugar maple), the flavor is somewhat different. Interest in commercially producing syrup from bigleaf maple sap has been limited.[18] Although not traditionally used for syrup production, it takes about 35 volumes of sap to produce 1 volume of maple syrup.

It is used as browse by black-tailed deer, mule deer, and horses during the sapling stage.[19] A western Oregon study found that 60 percent of bigleaf maple seedlings over 10 inches (25 cm) tall had been browsed by deer, most several times.[20]

Big Tree

The current national champion bigleaf maple is located in Marion, Oregon. It has a circumference of 25.4 feet (7.7 m)—or an average diameter at breast height of about 8.1 feet (2.5 m)—and is 88 feet (27 m) tall with a crown spread of 104 feet (32 m).[21]

References

  1. ↑ Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 [and more or less continuously updated since]. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Maple Measure, 2014, by Arborist M. D. Vaden: 160.43 ft. Acer macrophyllum
  5. ↑ Tall Tale of Humboldt Honey: 157.8 ft. Acer macrophyllum
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 US Forest Service
  12. ↑ [1]
  13. ↑ http://treesofprincerupert.blogspot.ca/
  14. ↑ http://treesneartheirlimitsalaska.blogspot.ca/
  15. ↑ Arno, Stephen F.; Hammerly, Ramona P. 1977. Northwest trees. Seattle, WA: The Mountaineers. 222 p. [4208]
  16. ↑ Bolsinger, Charles L. 1988. The hardwoods of California's timberlands, woodlands, and savannas. Resour. Bull. PNW-RB-148. Portland, OR: U.S.Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 148 p. [5291]
  17. ↑ Ruth, Robert H.; Underwood, J. Clyde; Smith, Clark E.; Yang, Hoya Y. 1972. Maple sirup production from bigleaf maple. PNW-181. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 12 p. [8592] (pdf file)
  18. ↑ Island Net: Maple syrup (pdf file)
  19. ↑ Fowells, H. A., compiler. 1965. Silvics of forest trees of the United States. Agric. Handb. 271. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 762 p. [12442]
  20. ↑ Fried, Jeremy S.; Tappeiner, John C., II; Hibbs, David E. 1988. Bigleaf maple seedling establishment and early growth in Douglas-fir forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 18: 1226–1233. [6189]
  21. ↑ National Register of Big Trees

External links

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