Field maple

The Acer (maple) genus is part of the soapberry (Sapindaceae) family, making it a relative of lychees and horse chestnuts.

Field maple (Acer campestre) is native to much of Europe, including Britain, where it’s the only member of its genus. Most of the 130+ species of maple (Acer) are found in Asia.

This deciduous tree is common in parks and gardens for its golden autumnal colour and tolerance to pollution. It’s popular in hedgerow and even called hedge maple in North America.

Growing up to 20m in height, field maple lives for up to 350 years and can be identified by its:

- Small grey spring leaf buds and dark brown winter buds

- Small, clustered yellow-green spring flowers

- Five-lobed leaves in opposite pairs with rounded teeth (it can be differentiated from the ubiquitous sycamore by its rounder leaves)

- Fruit (‘samara’) that develop wings for wind dispersal once pollinated

- Flaky, light brown bark that becomes corky with age

Field maple is great for local wildlife, hosting pollinators, mammals, aphids and their predators. It requires a moist, well-drained, neutral soil of any type to thrive and produces the hardest timber of any among its European brethren, often used in wood carving and to make musical instruments.

Maple syrup is sap from a maple tree, produced by all maples. However, the UK’s relatively mild winters make sap production a commercial non-starter.

Images: bud by Stefan lefnaer (own work) CC BY-SA 4.0; flowers by Sten Porse (own work) CC BY-SA 3.0; leaves by Hans (Pixabay); flowers (samara) by Jean Francois Gaffard, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

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