Silver Maple

Plant Characteristics

Lifespan:	⌛	perennial
Origin:	✈	Eastern North America

Cultivation

Sunset Zones:		1-9, 12, 14-24, 28-44

Scientific Names

Sapindaceae >

Acer >

saccharinum >

Acer saccharinum has semi-pendulous branches growing in an open form, which in turn casts a pretty open shade. On old trees the bark, a gray-silver, peels off in long strips. The light green on top leaves are silvery underneath, have 5 lobes and range from 7-15 cm wide. Fall color is not impressive, with leaves turning a light yellow. Roots will badly damage sidewalks (and sewers).

Trees are fast growing. Narrow crotch angles combined with weak wood mean that branches are prone to break off. Many consider this the least desirable of the maples.

Read about Silver Maple in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Acer saccharinum, Linn. (A. dasycarpum, Ehrh. A. eriocarpum, Michx.). White or Silver Maple. Fig. 96. Large tree, 120 ft.: lvs. deeply 5-lobed to 5-cleft, 4-6 in. long, green above, silvery white beneath; lobes deeply and doubly serrate: fls. greenish yellow, apetalous: fr. pubescent when young. E. N. Amer. S.S. 2:93. G.C. II. 1:37. Em. 556. H.T. 332. F.E.32:443 (habit); 29:983 (habit).—Ornamental tree, with wide-spreading, slender branches, growing best in rich and moist soil, but succeeds almost anywhere. Lvs. turn clear yellow in fall. Many garden forms: Var. Wieri, Schwerin (var. WiJkri lacinialum, Hort.). Branches pendulous: lvs. deeply cleft, with dissected lobes.—A graceful variety, remarkable for its drooping branches and finely divided foliage. M.D.G. 1903:628 (habit). Var. heterophyllum, Pax (var. heterophyllum laciniatum, Hort.). Upright: lvs. deeply and unequally divided, with narrow lobes. Var. tripartitum, Pax. Upright: lvs. 3-parted. Var. lutescens, Spaeth. Lvs. yellow, bronze-colored when unfolding. Var. 41bo-variegatum, Spaeth (var. Juhlkei, Hort.). Lvs. spotted with white or rosy pink. Var.crispum, Schwerin. Lvs. deeply (cut and crimped.-Linnaeus evidently supposed this species to be the sugar maple, and named it accordingly. He did not know the true sugar maple. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

More information about this species can be found on the genus page.

Cultivation

Silver Maple calendar?
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Notes:

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Propagation

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Pests and diseases

Aphids. Cottony scale.

Cultivars

• 'Silver Queen' - A more upright habit, with bright golden leaves in autumn, and no seeds.
• 'Wieri' ('Laciniatum') - Wier Maple, Cutleaf Silver Maple. Has much more finely cut leaves, and provides a bit more open shade than the species.

Gallery

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  leaves

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  Silver Maple bark

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  photo 3

References

• Sunset National Garden Book. Sunset Books, Inc., 1997. ISBN 0376038608

External links

• w:Silver Maple. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Silver Maple QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)