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Rocky
Mountain Maple
Common
Name(s):
Rocky Mountain
Maple
Mountain Maple
Scientific
Name:
Acer
glabrum Torr.
Scientific
Name Synonyms:
Acer tripartitum Nutt.
ex. Torr. & Gray
Symbol:
ACGL
Description:
Life Span: Perennial
Origin:
Native
Season: Deciduous
Growth Characteristics:
Rocky
Mountain maple is a small, rather delicate-looking tree, with opposite,
ascending to erect branches, rounded twigs, and a narrow crown.
At maturity, it can exceed 25 feet high. Rocky Mountain maple is
usually tall and spindly in closed stands, with a more dense and
brushy growth form in open stands. Though it may have a single dominant
stem, Rocky Mountain maple most often occurs as a multi-stemmed
shrub 5 to 6.5 feet tall.
Flowers/Inflorescence:
Flowers
are greenish-yellow, appearing early in the spring in small clusters.
Male and female flowers are on separate trees.
Fruits/Seeds:
Seeds occur in pairs, attached by their seed coat. On the unattached
end of each seed are broad membrane-like wings. This arrangement
is known as a double samara.
Leaves: Arise
from twigs in pairs, each leaf blade seldom exceeding 3 ¼
inches in diameter. The leaf margin is coarsely and sharply toothed,
divided into three (occasionally five) distinct lobes. The leaves
often have reddish fungus spots on the surface. In the fall they
turn from light green to reddish-orange before dropping.
Stems: Twigs
are red-brown, and rounded in cross section. The bark is generally
smooth until maturity, when small fissures appear. It is gray-brown
in color. The wood of Rocky Mountain maple is heavy, hard, and brownish
in color.
Ecological
Adaptations:
Rocky
Mountain maple occurs on wetlands, streambanks, canyons, and upland
mountain slopes. Though it occurs on both moist and dry sites, Rocky
Mountain maple is more closely tied to drainages in arid zones of
its distribution, but occurs on drier exposures northward and at
higher elevations. On upland sites, Rocky Mountain maple grows on
lower, mid, and upper slopes, alluvial terraces, summits, ridgetops,
snow chutes, and talus slopes. It usually occurs between 5,000 and
12,000 feet.
Following stem damage or top-kill, Rocky Mountain maple readily
resprouts from the root crown.
Soils: Rocky
Mountain maple occurs on silty, loamy, sandy, gravelly, and rocky
soils, with a moderately acidic to slightly basic pH.
Associated Species:
Subalpine
fir, quaking aspen, chokecherry,
pinegrass.
Uses and
Management:
Rocky
Mountain maple is important for watershed cover and browse for wildlife
and domestic animals.
There is little evidence of extensive use by humans of this species,
fuel being its main use. Mostly, it has added to the attraction
of the canyons and mountainsides.
Some Native American tribes favored the straight stems of Rocky
Mountain maple for arrow shafts, and the pliable wood for snowshoe
frames. The Navajo's used an infusion of twigs as an anti-rheumatic
and to treat swelling. The young shoots can be harvested in the
spring and cooked like asparagus.
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