Acer platanoides
Norway Maple

 This plant is considered invasive.

Acer platanoides - Overall Habit
 Plant Type:
 Growth Forms:
 Hardiness:
 Deciduous / Evergreen:
 Flower Notes:
Yellow (Showy yellow 0.33" dia. flowers in many-flowered corymbs in spring)
 Foliage Notes:
Green (Dark green foliage in summer); Yellow (Handsome yellow fall foliage that lasts long into October and even November)
 Stem Notes:
Lustrous olive brown. Stout, smooth, glabrous, lenticelled
 Fruit Notes:
Brown (Green horizontal samaras, maturing to brown in the fall)
 Ultimate Height:
40-50 feet
 Ultimate Spread:
30-50 feet
 Bloom Times:
 Fruiting Times:
 Soil Water Requirements:
 Soil Notes:
Very tolerant to different types of soils
 Range:
Norway and spreading southward through Europe
 Maintenance:
 Diagnostic Characteristics:
Simple, opposite leaves are 4-7" long and wide having 5-pointed lobes, often with hairs in axils of veins. Milky sap is visible on freshly excised or broken petioles. Leaf scars meet forming a sharp angle around the stem. Terminal bud is plump and greenish maroon.

Additional Information

One of the densest shade trees, widely adaptable to soils and environments, including dry and polluted city conditions. Transplants easily. Extremely dense canopy and shallow root system make it impossible to maintain good turf beneath. Can be a weed problem, especially in cooler parts of the northeast US. Slight susceptibility to verticillium wilt, anthracnose, and leaf scorch. Can be damaged by 2,4-D drift. Does not perform well in southern US (warm nights severely retard growth). When Norway maple escapes cultivation and invades natural areas it reduces species richness and native tree regeneration by out-competing other trees and understory species for resources, creating dense shade canopies, and spreading rapidly through high seed production. It also releases toxins that reduce the growth and reproduction of native species.

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