Hedge Maple

(Aceraceae - Maple Family)

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• Form
  • small- to medium-sized shade tree, or large shrub
  • slowly maturing to 30' tall by 30' wide under optimum conditions, but often half that size in urban situations, or even less if sheared into hedge form
  • upright oval growth habit in youth, quickly becoming rounded and spreading with age
  • slow growth rate

• Culture
  • full sun to partial sun
  • prefers moist, well-drained soils in full sun, but tolerates urban conditions much better than most Maples (including dry soils, compacted soils, alkaline soils, heat, and drought)
  • propagated by seeds or rooted stem cuttings
  • Maple Family, with few disease or pest problems
  • low availability in ball and burlap form, in singletrunked tree, multitrunked tree, or shrub form

• Foliage
  • opposite, dark green, and densely arranged along the twigs, about 3" long and wide, with palmate veination, and exuding a milky sap when the petiole is removed from the stem or is cut
  • five-lobed, with the basal two lobes much smaller than the upper three, with each of the three upper lobes incised and usually rounded, but not serrated
  • yellow to chartreuse fall color which is ornamentally poor

• Flowers
  • green inflorescences in early May are noticeable but ornamentally insignificant

• Fruits
  • two small joined green samaras per stalk, having widely divergent and prominent wings, in pendulous clusters from the stems and maturing as brown fruits in October

• Twigs
  • brown stems with gray buds, with some selections having prominent corky twigs

• Trunk
  • light brown to gray branches may have a slight degree of striation on some specimens, becoming light gray trunks that are slightly fissured at maturity

• ID Summary
  • opposite, five-lobed, dark-green, palmately-veined leaves usually have rounded lobes, and occur on twiggy stems that may or may not be corky, with widely divergent wings on the paired samaras
  • the overall growth habit usually is a low-branched, multitrunked tree or shrub, but also occurs as a limbed-up small to medium-sized tree, known for its dense foliage and low mature height, and its ability to be sheared into hedge form

• Function
  • small tree or large shrub, planted for shade, specimen, hedge, or street tree usage

• Texture
  • medium texture in foliage and when bare
  • thick density in foliage and when bare

• Assets
  • low mature height for a shade tree
  • urban tolerant
  • dense Summer shade
  • Maple that is tolerant of acidic, neutral, or alkaline soil pH

• Liabilities
  • shallow root system can surface with age
  • usually has poor fall color
  • slow growth rate
  • low branching and dense foliage causes turf die-out in the surrounding area (except for single-trunked treeforms)

• Habitat
  • zones 4 to 8
  • native to Europe, near East, and Africa

• Alternates
  • good small- to medium-sized street trees (Crataegus x lavallei, Koelreuteria paniculata, Malus 'Red Baron', Tilia cordata 'Greenspire', etc.)

• Variants
  • Acer campestre 'Queen Elizabeth' (also known as 'Evelyn') - a more vigorous form, having more vased branching (45 degree branch angles) and darker, larger foliage

• Translation
  • Acer is the Latin name for Maple.
  • campestre translates as "of fields".

• Purpose
  • Hedge Maple is one of the best low-height shade trees for street tree usage.

• Summary
  • Acer campestre is a slow-growing shade tree or very large shrub that is rounded, densely-foliaged, low-branching, and often low in its mature height.