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Vine maple

Silhouette - vine maple
  • Latin name: Acer circinatum Pursh
  • French name: Érable circiné
  • Taxonomic Serial Number: 28740
Description

Leaves

  • Leaf - vine maple

Form

  • Almost circular
  • 7–9 radiating lobes and corresponding number of veins
  • Lobes narrowly triangular, separated by narrow V-shaped notches
  • Lower surface downy in spring becoming hairless

Length

  • 3–10 cm

Width

  • 3–10 cm

Colour

  • Upper surface bright yellowish-green
  • Lower surface pale green

Autumn colour

  • Red or yellow

Margin

  • Single- or double-toothed

Buds

  • Lateral bud and leaf scar - vine maple

Form

  • Terminal bud absent
  • Lateral buds small
  • 1–2 pairs of hairless scales
  • Inner scales hairy

Colour

  • Red

Twigs

  • Winter twig - vine maple

Form

  • Terminal bud present when a flower bud occupies the terminal position
  • Slender, hairless

Colour

  • Green

Autumn colour

  • Often becoming red

Flowers

Form

  • 5 sepals
  • 5 smaller petals
  • Arranged on slender branched stalks (corymbs) in loose, drooping terminal clusters

Width

  • About 12 mm

Colour

  • Sepals purple or red
  • Petals white

Structure

  • Polygamo-monoecious

Floral timing

  • When the leaves are half grown

Fruits

  • Fruit - vine maple

Form

  • Seedcase swollen, ridged
  • Hairless
  • Mature in late autumn
  • Angle between wings almost 180°

Length

  • Wings 25–38 mm

Colour

  • Red or rose-coloured during summer

Structure

  • Samara
  • In joined pairs

Bark

Form

  • Thin, smooth
  • Sometimes marked by shallow crevices

Colour

  • Greenish becoming bright reddish-brown

Size

Height

  • To 10 m 

Diameter

  • To 15 cm

Tree form

  • Silhouette - vine maple

Forest-grown

Trunk

  • Short, crooked
  • Often prostrate, with twisted, spreading limbs

Crown

  • Low, broad, irregular

Habitat

Site

  • Often a constituent of the forest understory
  • Along stream banks
  • Also found in forest openings and on recently logged areas
  • Sometimes grows in clumps or patches

Light tolerance

  • Shade-tolerant

Range

Southern British Columbia 

Insects and diseases

Insects and diseases that are found most frequently and/or that cause the most damage in our Canadian forests.

Photos
Distribution map
Distribution map - vine maple