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Acer campestre, known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. It has been widely planted, and is introduced outside its native range in Europe and areas of USA and Western Australia with suitable climate.
Description
It is a deciduous tree reaching tall, with a trunk up to in diameter, with finely fissured, often somewhat corky bark. The shoots are brown, with dark brown winter buds. The leaves are in opposite pairs, long (including the petiole) and broad, with five blunt, rounded lobes with a smooth margin. Usually monoecious, the flowers are produced in spring at the same time as the leaves open, yellow-green, in erect clusters across, and are insect-pollinated. The fruit is a samara with two winged achenes aligned at 180°, each achene is wide, flat, with a wing. In many areas, the original native range is obscured by widespread planting and introductions. In North America it is known as hedge maple and in Australia, it is sometimes called common maple. In Nottinghamshire, England it was known locally as dog oak.
Ecology
Field maple is an intermediate species in the ecological succession of disturbed areas; it typically is not among the first trees to colonise a freshly disturbed area, but instead seeds in under the existing vegetation. It is very shade-tolerant during the initial stages of its life, but it has higher light requirements during its seed-bearing years. It exhibits rapid growth initially, but is eventually overtaken and replaced by other trees as the forest matures. It is most commonly found on neutral to alkaline soils, but more rarely on acidic soil.
Cultivation and uses
The field maple is widely grown as an ornamental tree in parks and large gardens. The wood is white, hard and strong, and used for furniture, flooring, wood turning and musical instruments, though the small size of the tree and its relatively slow growth make it an unimportant wood.
It is locally naturalised in parts of the United States
The hybrid maple Acer × zoeschense has A. campestre as one of its parents.
Cultivars
Over 30 cultivars of Acer campestre are known, selected for their foliage or habit, or both; several have been lost to cultivation.
- 'Carnival'
- 'Commodore'
- 'Compactum'
- 'Eastleigh Weeping'
- 'Elegant'
- 'Elsrijk'
- 'Evenly Red'
- 'Fastigiatum'
- 'Green Weeping'
- 'Leprechaun'
- 'Lienco'
- 'Marjolein'
- 'Nanum'
- 'Pendulum'
- 'Postelense'
- 'Pulverulentum'
- 'Punctatissimum'
- 'Puncticulatum'
- 'Queen Elisabeth'
- 'Red Shine'
- 'Royal Ruby'
- 'Ruby Glow'
- 'Schwerinii'
- 'Senator'
- 'Silver Celebration'
- 'Silver Dawn'
- 'Streetwise'
- 'Tauricum'
- 'Tomentosum'
- 'William Caldwell'
- 'Zorgvlied'
Bonsai
Acer campestre (and the similar A. monspessulanum) are popular among bonsai enthusiasts. The dwarf cultivar 'Microphyllum' is especially useful in this regard. A. campestre bonsai have an appearance distinct from those selected from some other maples such as A. palmatum with more frilly, translucent, leaves. The shrubby habit and smallish leaves of A. campestre respond well to techniques encouraging ramification and leaf reduction.
Gallery
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Image:Acer campestre 001.jpg|Field maple leaf
Image:Acer campestre 002.jpg|Leaves and flowers
Image:Acer campestre 003.jpg|Field maple, Germany
Image:Acer campestre 004.jpg|Leaves
Image:Acer campestre 007.jpg|Foliage in spring
Image:Acer campestre 009.jpg|Field maple, Hesse, Germany
Image:Acer campestre 010.jpg|Field maple leaf
Image:Acer campestris1.jpg|Fruits
Image:Acer_campestrie_L_ag1.jpg|Field maple
Image:Acer-campestre-flowers.JPG|Field maple flowers
Image:Field maple.JPG|Field maple in autumn, France
Image:Acer campestre 006.jpg|Field maple, Germany
Image:Entzia - Acer Campestre 02.jpg|Field maple, Spain
Image:FeldahornBlatt.jpg|Leaves and inflorescence
Image:Acer-campestre.JPG|Leaves and fruits
Image:Acer campestre (4).JPG|Trunk
Image:Acer campestre Weinsberg 20070419 1.jpg|Maple field tree, Weinsberg
Image:Acer campestre 005.jpg|Leaf
</gallery>