Description

Acer rubrum L., red maple, is a wide-ranging native tree that is very well adapted to most soil and site conditions.  This species is one of the early harbingers of fall as it turns color well in advance of other eastern deciduous trees, especially when it is located in wet sites.  The fiery colors of fall are typically a brilliant red.  Conversely, it is also one of the earliest flowering trees in the spring.  Red maple has the smallest winged seeds (samaras) of all native maples, about 5/8-3/4 inches long.  Also, the samaras ripen in the spring- a trait shared only with silver maple which has much larger samaras.  This maple is a medium sized tree with fairly rapid growth (2-5 ft/yr), but not as fast as the much larger growing silver maple.

Uses

Erosion control: Red maple is available in quantity for revegetation work and landscaping.  It is a valuable riparian buffer plant due mostly to it's tolerance of wetter soils.

Wildlife: Red maple seeds provide food for squirrels and some birds.  The species is not preferred by deer as a browse source, so in heavy deer pressure this species is over abundant in forest regeneration.

Wood: The wood is not desirable for lumber or veneer.

Adaptation and Distribution

Red maple is adapted to wet sites where it associates with black ash, cottonwood, and black gum.  Some forested wetlands are referred to as maple swamps due to their stands of red maple.  However, red maple is also well adapted to well drained but moist soils of upland sites where its companions are sugar maple, beech, black cherry and the birches.  This capability makes this species a common tree in home landscapes where the fall colors can be displayed.  The range of red maple extends from Florida to the Maritimes and west to Texas and Minnesota.  Red maple is shade tolerant.

References

Dickerson, J. (2006). Plant fact sheet for red maple (acer rubrum L.). Retrieved from   http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet