Moosewood Maple (Acer pennsylvanicum)

Moosewood Maple
Acer pennsylvanicum
(AY-ser) (pen-sil-VAN-ih-kum)
Synonyms: Striped Maple, Whistlewood, Goosefoot Maple


I wanted to post a Wordless Wednesday but some of the people over at the Blog Catalog Forum want to start a group effort called ABC Wednesday. It is a nice very knowledgeable group over there. So the theme is easy, just photograph something that starts with ‘A’ the first week, ‘B’ the second week and so on. I thought it maybe interesting and give me a reason to go and make sure I shoot a picture on Tuesdays. Of course I found several plants with the right starting letter and maybe posting a few more over the next couple of days. It is open to anyone so if you feel like joining in by all means do it!

'A' is for Acer.

The genus Acer is an important one to gardeners. It is rich with ornamental trees and even some shrubs. There are only a few I don’t care for like Norway Maple and Silver Maple but those are far outweighed by the ones I do like. Like today’s tree. I don’t see it growing in gardens too often and I wonder why. It is a handsome smallish tree (15 to 20 feet) that likes to grow in moist part shade. I often use them in shade gardens. Wikipedia says it is considered the one of the most shade tolerant deciduous trees. The foliage is large and the lobed leaves grow in pairs. Fall color is a nice clear yellow. The whitish striping does seem to be most pronounced on the younger branches, the twigs are a nice coral color.


There are about 20 species of Striped (aka Snakebark) Maples and this is the only native to North America (Minnesota to Nova Scotia and south to Georgia). Its common name is derived from the fact that Moose love to eat it. I am glad that hasn’t transferred over to the deer as they seem to leave it alone.


Here is a list of participating blogs. I'll add more when the others post their 'A' photo.

mrsnesbittsplace.com
my tropical escape.com