Paperbark Maple

Acer griseum

Aceraceae (Maple Family)

▲▼  trees

▲▼ leaves

▲ fruit

▲▼ trunks with peeling rust-red bark

▲ peeling bark on older tree

Location on campus: south of Plaster Student Union

Acer griseum: Paperbark Maple

·         leaves opposite, deciduous, trifoliate; leaflets dark-green to blue-green above, lighter green and pubescent below; leaves 3-6" long; leaflets 2-2.5" long and 2 as wide; orange to red fall color

·         stems brown, pubescent when young; turning cinnamon brown with peeling bark with age

·         bark is cinnamon brown and exfoliating--  very attractive

·         prefers full sun to partial shade and moist, well-drained soils, but tolerates compacted soils

·         grows 20-30' tall and 2 as wide

·         slow growth rate

·         similar species:  Three-Flowered Maple (Acer triflorum) has  more tan-gray bark, rather than the cinnamon-brown/orange bark of Paperbark maple