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Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)

[ Trees > Hardwoods > Maples . . . ]      Forest Types: Riverine

Range

Leaves with deeply cut lobes and silvery undersides, fluttering in the slightest wind; "helicopters" produced in spring; growing (naturally) in lowlands and moist areas.

by Michael Kuo

Habitat: In moist areas, usually in riverine ecosystems.

Stature: 60-80 feet high; to 3 feet in diameter; often splitting into 2 or more main trunks; when mature featuring a broad, rounded crown.

Leaves: 4-7 inches long; simple; with 5 deeply cut lobes separated by V-shaped sinuses; smooth; light green above; silvery to whitish below; turning yellow in the fall.

Bark: Gray; at first smooth, becoming cracked-scaly.

Fruit: A green "helicopter" about 2 inches long, appearing before the leaves in spring.


Expanded treatment of this tree can be found at our companion site, midwestnaturalist.com, here.


(References consulted)


Frequent Mushroom Associates:

Maples are not mycorrhizal, but some saprobes are dedicated to decomposing silver maple wood and debris, including: Armillaria tabescens (especially in urban settings), Polyporus squamosus, and others.

 

Acer saccharinum

Acer saccharinum

Acer saccharinum

Acer saccharinum



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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2007, May). Silver maple (Acer saccharinum). Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/trees/acer_saccharinum.html