BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Acer spicatum | Mountain Maple 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Mountain maple is a native, deciduous tall shrub or small tree [28].  In
the Appalachian Mountains, the maximum height of mountain maple is 33
feet (10 m), but it is usually smaller.  In the northern parts of its
range, maximum height is 20 feet (6 m).  Maximum d.b.h. is 6 to 8 inches
(15-20 cm) in the Appalachian Mountains and rarely over 3 to 4 inches
(8-10 cm) in the north.  This tree has a short, often crooked trunk,
with a shrubby or clumped growth form [17,28].  The bark of mountain
maple is drab and flaky or furrowed.  The root system is shallow; the
majority of the roots are close to the soil surface [27].  The fruit is
a two-winged samara [28].

Height growth averages approximately 1 foot (0.3 m) per year, with
maximum growth occurring when plants are 5 to 10 years of age [28].

Plants become decadent at around 40 to 50 years of age.  Older mountain
maples often produce more new vegetative growth than younger individuals
[28].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Sexual reproduction:  Mountain maple reproduces by seed, which is wind
disseminated [28].  Unlike most maples, mountain maple is insect
pollinated [55].  Seeds need to be scarified and stratified for the most
efficient germination.  Mountain maple does not build up a seedbank;
more seed are found in the seedfall then in seedbanks [52].  Germination
and seedling establishment are better on undisturbed soils.  No new
germination was found in study plots that had the litter layer removed
nor was any found on plots in clearcuts [52].  Seedling reproduction is
less important than vegetative reproduction [28,37].

Asexual reproduction:  Mountain maple reproduces by sprouting from
underground, lateral stems and by layering [31].  Root suckers are rare
[28].  The formation of clumps or colonies usually follows disturbance
by browsing or cutting [31].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Mountain maple is found in cool woods where the climate is humid and
precipitation is year-round.  Growing seasons range from less than 120
days to more than 170 days.  It has medium moisture and nutrient
requirements, and low heat and light requirements [28].  In the north,
mountain maple prefers rich, moist soils on rocky slopes and flats, and
along streams.  Mountain maple also grows well on drier or well-drained
acid soils (podzols) [28,34,36].  Mountain maple can form a canopy on
cliff faces [35].  It also occurs on talus slopes [35] and in forested
bogs [22].

In the southern Appalachian Mountains, mountain maple is widely
distributed and locally common at elevations of 2,800 to 5,600 feet
(853-1706 m) [59]. In the Adirondack Mountains, New York, mountain maple
ranges in elevation from 100 to 3,706 feet (30-1,130 m) but is most
abundant between 2,500 and 3,000 feet (762-914 m) [34,63].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative seral species.

Mountain maple is tolerant of deep shade but also grows well in sun; it
tolerates strong sun better than does its close associate, striped maple
[5,28].  The understory light regime in which mountain maple most
commonly occurs is characterized by low, diffuse light punctuated by
short pulses of sunflecks.  Mountain maple's tendency to layer rapidly
(unique amoung maples in its range) gives it a competitive advantage in
the exploitation of light gaps [37].

Mountain maple colonizes the understory of seral tree species as the
pioneer tree species decline, and often dominates the understory with
beaked hazel.  When it is released by canopy tree harvest, mountain
maple may dominate the site within 5 to 10 years, suppressing the growth
of spruce and fir seedlings for at least 35 years [28].  On jack pine
(Pinus banksiana) sites, decadent jack pine may be replaced by a shrub
layer that includes mountain maple; this shrub layer is then slowly
replaced by white spruce (Picea glauca), black spruce (P. mariana), and
balsam fir [16].

Mountain maple occurs in seral communities, such as quaking aspen
(Populus tremuloides), red pine (Pinus resinosa), or jack pine, that
have remained undisturbed for at least 10 years.  It exhibits a
density/age distribution that is similar to that of climax trees [4,8].
In undisturbed, mature red pine-white pine communities in northeastern
Minnesota, mountain maple forms a dense, high shrub layer with beaked
hazel and American hazel that inhibits reproduction of later
successional species such as balsam fir and spruce [1].

Mountain maple occurs, usually as scattered clumps, in the understory of
spruce-fir or balsam fir climax communities [38,62].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Mountain maple flowers from May to June, after the leaves are fully
developed [28,55].  Fruit ripens from mid-September to mid-October [28].

Related categories for Species: Acer spicatum | Mountain Maple