Striped Maple, Acer pensylvanicum L., Native Minnesota Tree, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Striped Maple	Acer pensylvanicum L.	Maple (Aceraceae)	Woodland	Spring
Other names and notes	(Goose-foot Maple, Northern Maple, Moosewood) The smooth gray or green-gray bark of Striped Maple bears distinctive white vertical stripes, hence its common name. Bark becomes reddish brown on old stems. The low tree will reach 15 feet in height with 3" diameter stems, but frequently in the understory appears as a shrub. The leaves are opposite, large, 5” to 8” long and more finely toothed than Mountain Maple, Acer spicatum, which grows nearby in the Garden. The 3-lobed indentations (hence the alternate common name of 'goose-foot') of the leaf are sharply pointed. Twigs are hairless and reddish when young. Yellow flowers are bell-shaped, 1/4" long and hang in drooping clusters and produce a winged, paired fruit (a samara) in late summer, ripening in autumn.

Notes: Eloise Butler first planted this species in the Garden on May 28, 1909 with plants obtained from the Park Board. This plant was listed on Martha Crone's 1951 inventory of plants in the Garden at that time. Striped Maple has been considered native to a few places in Minnesota in some references but this is probably mistaken as neither the MN DNR native plant list nor the University of Minnesota's Comprehensively Annotated Checklist of the Flora of Minnesota, version 2011.2 list it as a native species. Minnesota references are probably due to imported and nursery grown plants such as those grown by the Park Board. In nearby Wisconsin, it is found only in distant Door County. Minnesota would be beyond its western-most reach. Its main habitat is the eastern U.S., south as far as Georgia and Eastern Canada.

Former curator Martha Crone wrote: "The green bark of this tree breaks into a network of furrows, exposing a pale under layer, making the green appear delicately striped with white. The handsome large leaves turn yellow in autumn. The yellow bell-like flowers in long racemes gracefully drooping, appear among the leaves in May. The samaras ripen in autumn. The Striped Maple is most attractive in early spring when its bud scales lengthen and the rosy, down-covered leaves appear. It is difficult to believe that this exquisite maple is a native here, yet not used more extensively in cultivation. it will thrive in partial shade in with taller trees. Seeds of this tree germinate readily." Published in The Fringed Gentian™, Vol. 4, #2, April 1956.

Return to -- Site Plan/Archive --or-- List of Common Plant Names -- or -- List of Scientific Names -- or --Home Page

References: Plant characteristics are generally from sources 15, 16, 30, 31, 33, W2 & W3. Distribution principally from W2 and also 31, 34 and W1. Planting history generally from 1, 4 & 4a. Other sources by specific reference. See Reference List for details.

032612