Mountain maple

Maple family. Natural range - North America.

In the understory of broadleaf and mixed forests; in cool habitats: along the banks of rivers and streams in mountains and valleys; in forests - on deep, rich, moist soils.

A tree up to 15 m tall, often a tall shrub with a rounded, dense crown, well suited to shaping. Young shoots reddish-brown, later gray-brown, downy when young, later hairless. Trunk brownish-gray. Leaves up to 12 cm, graceful, with reddish petioles, shallowly three-lobed with pointed lobes, yellowish-green, almost hairless above, densely hairy beneath when young, turning orange-red in autumn. Flowers greenish-yellow in narrow, lacy, raceme-like erect inflorescences up to 14 cm long. Blooms at the same time as the leaves unfold and flowers for about 20 days.

Shade-tolerant, winter-hardy, moderately light-demanding and particular about soil. Ornamental for the shape of its crown and leaves, during flowering and fruiting. Its attractive form and decorative features make it suitable for creating elegant, freely growing groups, tall untrimmed hedges and complex compositions. Good for planting around water bodies. One of the most valuable ornamental species. In cultivation since 1750. Seed viability 93%, germination 62%. Rooting rate of summer cuttings 5%.

Has a lance-leaved form (f. laciniata), in which the leaves have irregularly incised and deep lobes.