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West Virginia Trees

Chapter 106: STRIPED MAPLE
By A. B. Brooks
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Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

A practical field guide to the native and introduced trees of West Virginia, providing keys based mainly on leaves and fruits, concise family and species descriptions, and detailed line drawings for about 101 native species. It organizes trees by botanical families, gives brief flower notes, a glossary of terms, and suggestions for identifying specimens; occasional introduced species and shrubs are noted. The bulletin emphasizes simplicity for non-specialists, offers measurements and habit descriptions for each species, and includes administrative prefatory material. Its aim is to aid lay readers and students in tree identification and to encourage local interest in forestry.

STRIPED MAPLE

Acer pennsylvanicum, L.

Form.—Height 10-25 feet, diameter 6-12 inches; trunk medium short; crown irregular, usually broad.

Leaves.—Opposite, simple, 5-6 inches long, nearly as broad, 3-lobed above the middle with short, pointed lobes, sharply and doubly serrate, rounded or cordate at base, rather smooth above and rusty pubescent beneath.

Flowers.—May-June; usually monoecious, yellow, bell-shaped, in long, drooping, terminal racemes.

Fruit.—Matures in autumn; paired samaras in long racemose drooping clusters, wing ¾ inch long, widely divergent, marked on one side of each nutlet by a small cavity.

Bark.—Smooth, thin, greenish or reddish-brown, marked longitudinally by pale stripes.

Wood.—Light, soft, close-grained, pinkish brown, with thick sapwood.

Range.—Novia Scotia south along the mountains to Georgia, west to Minnesota.

Distribution in West Virginia.—Common in shaded ravines and rich slopes in the mountainous parts of the State, especially in Webster, Randolph, Upshur, Pocahontas and Nicholas counties.

Habitat.—Thrives best in rich soil of rocky or sandy woods.

Notes.—This small maple is also called Moosewood and Goosefoot Maple, the latter name referring to the goosefoot shape of the leaf. It is not a commercially valuable species, but always attracts attention whether growing in its shady mountain habitat or on the lawn.