Gary W. Graham, Ohio State University Extension, Northeast District; James A. Chatfield, Ohio State University Extension, Northeast District and Department of Horticulture and Crop Science; Kenneth D. Cochran, Secrest Arboretum of The Ohio State University Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, Ohio.
Acer rubrum. Red Maple.
Also known as swamp maple, this is a widely successful native maple in eastern U.S. forests and in many types of landscapes. Tolerant of wet sites, it is vulnerable to problems in dry and windswept sites and develops manganese deficiency in alkaline soils. A. rubrum is a fairly large maple, often 40 to 60 feet tall with age, and can grow much taller. Leaves are three to five lobed but mostly with three major lobes with much less dissection than silver maple.
Vibrant red flowers (especially pistillate types) with small petals are striking in March and April on the then leafless trees. Samaras develop and fall early, and this early maturity is an advantage in woodlands compared to species with fall seed maturity.
Variable fall color is reliably brilliant in widely planted selections such as 'Red Sunset.'™ Secrest's Deciduous Tree Evaluation Plot was an early proving ground for the J.Frank Schmidt's Nursery-trademarked 'Red Sunset'™ ('Franksred' is the cultivar), and Princeton Nursery introduced 'October Glory.' For fall color and winter hardiness, Red Sunset is hard to beat.
'October Glory' is one of the latest for fall color, and in 2002, it peaked only about 10 days before Thanksgiving. Check out these cultivars and 'Columnare' and 'Schelesingeri' in the Deciduous Tree Evaluation Plot at Secrest. When nurserymen visit the Deciduous Tree plot, they often comment positively on 'Columnare' for its tolerance of droughty years, its oval columnar shape, its dark green summer foliage color, and its resistance to leafhoppers.