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You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Plant Species > Shrub > Species: Acer pensylvanicum | Striped Maple
 

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BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

SPECIES: Acer pensylvanicum | Striped Maple
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : Striped maple is a native, deciduous, tall shrub or small tree. It reaches a maximum height of about 45 feet (13 m), but is usually smaller [11,16]. It has a short, forked trunk divided into a few ascending, arching branches, forming a broad but uneven, flat-topped to rounded crown. The branchlets are straight and slender [6,11]. Striped maple is primarily dioecious; monoecy is rare. The sex ratio is male-biased. Hibbs [9] reported that 80 percent of a Massachusetts population was male. The fruit of striped maple is a two-winged sumara. The root system is shallow and wide-spreading [6,11]. RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : Phanerophyte REGENERATION PROCESSES : Sexual reproduction: Striped maple reproduces mostly by seed. Seed production varies from tree to tree; some trees produce as few as 10 seeds, whereas others produce several thousand. Seed production begins at about 10 years of age, and large seed crops are produced every year. The seeds are wind dispersed [6,18]. A small proportion of striped maples undergo gender change. The gender of such trees may differ from year to year [9,19]. In one year, in a sample of trees taken in western Massachusetts, 27 of 243 trees changed sex. Most changes were from male to female [6]. Vegetative reproduction: Vegetative reproduction does not seem to play an important part in the reproduction of striped maple. Although it reproduces by layering and basal sprouting, sampling of striped maple populations showed that only 3 percent of the trees originated from layering, and 8 percent by sprouting [6]. In general, vegetative propagation seems to be a mechanism by which it survives suppression rather than increases in number [6]. SITE CHARACTERISTICS : Striped maple is found on moist, acid soils in deep valleys and on cool, moist, shaded, north-facing slopes. In middle elevations and on mesic sites in the Green Mountains of Vermont, it is found from 1,830 to 2,830 feet (550-830 m) in elevation. It reaches best development below 2,430 feet (730 m) in elevation [6,9]. SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : Facultative Seral Species Striped maple is tolerant of deep shade but develops best under moderate light [3,16]. Rapid shoot growth can occur under low light intensity, but the growth is etiolated. Under direct sunlight, striped maple is succeeded by mountain maple. It grows well in small forest openings and under thinned overstorys that result in moderate understory lighting. Because its maximum height growth is about 50 feet (15 m), it never becomes a major component in the upper canopy of northern hardwood forests. It may, however, occupy forest openings for more than 100 years [6,21,22]. SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : Striped maple flowers from May to June. The fruits ripen in September and October and are dispersed in October and November [18].

Related categories for Species: Acer pensylvanicum | Striped Maple

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Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System

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