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Acer rubrum

Common name:	Red Maple	Family:	Aceraceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	11, 43, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America - Quebec to Florida, west to Texas, Minnesota and Ontario.
Habitat:	Usually found in swamps and uplands, it also occasionally grows on dry rocky hillsides and sand dunes[43, 82].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Kirmizi Isfendan Agaci [E], Red Maple [DEN1,P,B,L,H,FEIS,E], Red Maple USA [H], Scarlet Canadian Maple UK [H], Swamp Maple [L],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	acer = sharp, pungent; rubrum = red;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Sapindales. Maple family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Turkey; Us; Us(Amerindian); Us(Appalachia)
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

A decidious tree growing to 30m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 3. It is in flower from March to April, and the seeds ripen from May to June. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in heavy clay soil. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil. It can tolerate atmospheric pollution.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Canopy.

Edible Uses

Inner bark; Leaves; Sap; Seed; Sweetener.

The sap contains sugar and this can be used as a drink or be concentrated into a syrup by boiling off the water[2, 11, 74, 159]. The syrup is used as a sweetener on many foods. This species only yields about half the quantity obtained from the sugar maple (A. saccharum)[4]. It makes a good maple syrup although the yield is comparatively small[183]. It can be harvested in late winter, the flow is best on warm sunny days following a frost. The best sap production comes from cold-winter areas with continental climates.
Inner bark - cooked[105, 177]. It is dried, ground into a powder and then used as a thickening in soups etc or mixed with cereals when making bread[161].
Self-sown seedlings, gathered in early spring, are eaten fresh or dried for later use[213].
Seeds - cooked. The wings are removed and the seeds boiled then eaten hot[213]. The seed is very small, about 5mm long, and is produced in small clusters[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antispasmodic; Astringent; Ophthalmic.

The bark has astringent properties and has been used as an application for sore eyes[4]. The inner bark was used according to one report[257].
An infusion of the bark has been used to treat cramps and dysentery[257].

Other Uses

Basketry; Dye; Pioneer; Preservative; Wood.

The leaves are packed around apples, rootcrops etc to help preserve them[18, 20].
The boiled inner bark yields a purple colour[4, 57, 82]. Mixed with lead sulphate this produces a black dye which can also be used as an ink[4]. The dye is dark blue according to another report[95].
The wood is used to make basket splints[257].
This species can successfully establish itself in recently cleared areas and partially open woodlands[229]. It can therefore be used as a pioneer species to speed the regeneration of woodland[K].
Wood - not strong, close grained, hard, very heavy[46, 82, 227]. It weighs 38lb per cubic foot[227]. The grain of some old specimens is undulated, this gives beautiful effects of light and shade on polished surfaces[4]. The wood is commonly used for making furniture, turnery, pulp, etc[46, 82, 227].

Cultivation details

Of easy cultivation, it prefers a good moist well-drained soil[11, 98], though this species succeeds in wetter soils than most other members of the genus. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Dislikes chalk according to one report[98], whilst others say that it does less well on chalk[200], often becoming chlorotic as a result of iron deficiency. Prefers a sunny position but tolerates some shade. Tolerates atmospheric pollution[200].
A fast-growing tree for the first 20 - 30years of its life, it may live for 75 - 100 years[229].
Red maple is a bad companion plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants[18, 20].
A variable species with several sub-species[227], there are also many named varieties that have been selected for their ornamental value[200].
This species is often confused with A. saccharinum[11].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the spring in a cold frame. It usually germinates immediately and by the end of summer has formed a small tree with several pairs of leaves[82]. Stored seed quickly loses its viability. Pre-soak stored seed for 24 hours and then stratify for 2 - 4 months at 1 - 8°c. It can be slow to germinate. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on until they are 20cm or more tall before planting them out in their permanent positions.
Layering, which takes about 12 months, is successful with most species in this genus.
Cuttings of young shoots in June or July. The cuttings should have 2 - 3 pairs of leaves, plus one pair of buds at the base. Remove a very thin slice of bark at the base of the cutting, rooting is improved if a rooting hormone is used. The rooted cuttings must show new growth during the summer before being potted up otherwise they are unlikely to survive the winter.

Cultivars

'': There are many named forms for this species, but these have been developed for their ornamental value and not for their other uses. Unless you particularly require the special characteristics of any of these cultivars, we would generally recommend that you grow the natural species for its useful properties. We have, therefore, not listed the cultivars in this database[K].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.

References for the family Aceraceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[18] Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. Companion Plants. Watkins 1979
Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.

[20] Riotte. L. Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Garden Way, Vermont, USA. 1978 ISBN 0-88266-064-0
Fairly good.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[57] Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.

[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 ISBN 0-486-20278-X
Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader.

[95] Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976 ISBN 0-486-23310-3
Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.

[98] Gordon. A. G. and Rowe. D. C. f. Seed Manual for Ornamental Trees and Shrubs.
Very comprehensive guide to growing trees and shrubs from seed. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[159] McPherson. A. and S. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press 1977 ISBN 0-253-28925-4
A nice pocket guide to this region of America.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[227] Vines. R.A. Trees of North Texas University of Texas Press. 1982 ISBN 0292780206
A readable guide to the area, it contains descriptions of the plants and their habitats with quite a bit of information on plant uses.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.