Acer floridanum
Encyclopedia
Acer floridanum commonly known as the Florida maple and occasionally as the southern sugar maple or hammock maple, is a tree that occurs in mesic
and usually calcareous
woodlands of the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain
in the United States
, from southeastern Virginia
in the north, south to central Florida
, and west to Oklahoma
and Texas
.
tree
, growing to 15–25 m (exceptionally to 38 m) tall, with an elliptical crown of moderate density with a smooth or rounded outline. The bark
is a light gray with thick irregular curling ridges; as the tree matures, the bark tends to become plated. The twig
s are slender, somewhat shiny, reddish brown. The terminal bud
s are sharply pointed, brown and pubescent. The leaves
are opposite, simple, palmately lobed and veined, 3–9.5 cm long and 3.5–11 cm broad, with an entire margin and three or five somewhat rounded lobes, and a 2–8 cm long petiole
. They are green above and paler and pubescent below. In fall they turn orange and yellow. The flower
s are regular, pentamerous, and appear on yellow-green corymbs and are quite small. They hang from puberulent pedicel
s 2.4–5 cm long in clusters of a few flowers, appearing before or with the leaves in early spring. This is about two weeks prior to the maturation of the flowers of Acer saccharum. The tree is generally diecious, though they are often also polygamous, that is having bisexual and unisexual flowers on the same individual. The fruit
is a paired samara
1.5–3 cm long.
Acer floridanum can easily be confused in the field with the closely related Acer leucoderme and Acer saccharum. It can be best distinguished from A. saccharum by noting the smaller leaves with short and acute lobes, the smaller samaras, and the more whitish bark. Several overlaps in genetics between these two species have been found in east Texas and in the zone from Maryland
south to northern Florida, despite the fact that Maryland is listed as beyond the natural range of the tree. In light of this information, it can be assumed that the two hybridize. From A. leucoderme, it is best told by the white hairs on the undersides of the leaves, yellow-haired in A. leucoderme.
The Florida Maple was first recognised as distinct in 1860 by Alvan Wentworth Chapman
, who treated it as a variety of A. saccharum. In 1886 Ferdinand Albin Pax
decided it was distinct enough to be treated as a separate species, making the new combination A. floridanum (Chapm.) Pax. In 1952, Yves Desmarais took an intermediate option, treating it as a subspecies Acer saccharum subsp. floridanum (Chapm.) Desmarais, a treatment which has fairly wide recent recognition.
A further problem exists with the specific name Acer barbatum, given to a maple by André Michaux
in 1803 from samples collected in the Carolinas during his decade in North America from 1785 to 1796. For a long time it was unclear if the plant he collected was Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple) or A. floridanum, as his samples were badly damaged on his return to Paris
. M. L. Fernald reexamined the species in the mid-1940s for the 8th edition of Gray's Manual, published in 1950; on reviewing Michaux's notes on A. barbatum, he decided to apply this name to the Florida Maple in 1945, based on his interpretation that Michaux's samples, which he only knew through notes (Michaux's collections were in Paris, inaccessible as World War II
had not yet ended), corresponded more closely to Florida Maple than to Sugar Maple. Since the oldest given name takes precedence, he used the name A. barbatum for the Florida Maple. Many subsequent authors accepted this judgement, such as the United States Forest Service
, and Wilbur H. Duncan and Marion Duncan's Trees of the Southeastern United States, published in 1988. However, recent examination by D. B. Ward has shown that they are typical Acer saccharum after all, and not A. floridanum as Fernald had thought without examination, and thus Michaux's name is correctly a synonym of A. saccharum.
and Atlantic Coastal Plain
from southeastern Virginia
southwest across North Carolina
, South Carolina
and Georgia
, as well as into the Florida
Panhandle. The range goes farther west across Alabama
, Mississippi
, Louisiana
, into eastern Texas
, and north through Arkansas
and into eastern Oklahoma
. The species also occurs in several isolated locations roughly halfway down the Gulf Coast of the Florida peninsula, and also in at least one location in central Oklahoma. The species is also found in isolated locations of Illinois
, Montana
, Tennessee
and Kentucky.
The average annual rainfall within the native area ranges from 112 to 163 cm (44 to 64 in). The driest months average no less than 50 mm (2 in). The normal temperatures in January within the range vary from 11° to 18°C (52° to 64°F) maximum, and from -2° to 7°C (28° to 45°F) minimum, whereas in July normal maximums are 29° to 33°C (84° to 91°F), and minimums are 21° to 24°C (70° to 75°F). The tree favours moist, but well-drained fertile soils, especially on stream terrace, in coves, and on adjacent bluffs and ridgetops. It grows best on soils containing calcareous
material such as limestone
or marl
. It also grows well on the densely forested hammocks
of Florida, hence its alternative common name hammock maple. It is most often confined to the understory.
as a shade tree due to its round crown and its greater resistance to heat than that of its more showy relative the sugar maple. Several species of birds and especially squirrels make use of the tree as a nesting site and also consume its seeds as a food source.
Despite the fact that of itself Florida Maple is not employed as a commercial timber species, it is used with associated commercial species when the products are pulpwood
, sawtimber, or wood veneer
stock. It is considered a hard maple and as high quality individuals are suitable for producing furniture, flooring, paneling, and shoe lasts. However, its relative scarcity, small size, and fairly poor shape generally confine its use to only factory and box lumber, and even this is only an occasional occurrence. It has, however, been experiencing growing popularity as an ornamental or shade tree, especially in the southern United States
due to its high heat resistance. It is also a source of maple syrup
, though again its size and rarity limit its use in this regard, especially in light of the Sugar Maple's established popularity within the business.
Mesic
Mesic may refer to:* Mesic, North Carolina, a town in the United States* Mesic habitat, a type of habitat...
and usually calcareous
Calcareous
Calcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...
woodlands of the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain
Coastal plain
A coastal plain is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior by other features. One of the world's longest coastal plains is located in eastern South America. The southwestern coastal plain of North America is notable for its species diversity...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, from southeastern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in the north, south to central Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and west to Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Description
It is a medium-sized to large deciduousDeciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
, growing to 15–25 m (exceptionally to 38 m) tall, with an elliptical crown of moderate density with a smooth or rounded outline. The bark
Bark
Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
is a light gray with thick irregular curling ridges; as the tree matures, the bark tends to become plated. The twig
Twig
A twig is a small thin terminal branch of a woody plant. Twigs are critically important in identification of trees, shrubs and vines, especially in wintertime. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away...
s are slender, somewhat shiny, reddish brown. The terminal bud
Bud
In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of the stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specialized to develop flowers or short shoots, or may have...
s are sharply pointed, brown and pubescent. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are opposite, simple, palmately lobed and veined, 3–9.5 cm long and 3.5–11 cm broad, with an entire margin and three or five somewhat rounded lobes, and a 2–8 cm long petiole
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
. They are green above and paler and pubescent below. In fall they turn orange and yellow. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are regular, pentamerous, and appear on yellow-green corymbs and are quite small. They hang from puberulent pedicel
Pedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....
s 2.4–5 cm long in clusters of a few flowers, appearing before or with the leaves in early spring. This is about two weeks prior to the maturation of the flowers of Acer saccharum. The tree is generally diecious, though they are often also polygamous, that is having bisexual and unisexual flowers on the same individual. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is a paired samara
Samara (fruit)
A samara is a type of fruit in which a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue develops from the ovary wall. A samara is a simple dry fruit and indehiscent . It is a winged achene...
1.5–3 cm long.
Acer floridanum can easily be confused in the field with the closely related Acer leucoderme and Acer saccharum. It can be best distinguished from A. saccharum by noting the smaller leaves with short and acute lobes, the smaller samaras, and the more whitish bark. Several overlaps in genetics between these two species have been found in east Texas and in the zone from Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
south to northern Florida, despite the fact that Maryland is listed as beyond the natural range of the tree. In light of this information, it can be assumed that the two hybridize. From A. leucoderme, it is best told by the white hairs on the undersides of the leaves, yellow-haired in A. leucoderme.
Taxonomy
Debate still exists about its taxonomic status, which has been controversial for at least 100 years.The Florida Maple was first recognised as distinct in 1860 by Alvan Wentworth Chapman
Alvan Wentworth Chapman
Alvan Wentworth Chapman was an American physician and botanist who wrote Flora of the Southern United States, the first comprehensive description of US plants in any region beyond the northeastern states.-Education:...
, who treated it as a variety of A. saccharum. In 1886 Ferdinand Albin Pax
Ferdinand Albin Pax
Ferdinand Albin Pax was a German botanist and entomologist. He specialised in Lepidoptera, Diptera, as well as in spermatophytes, describing several species....
decided it was distinct enough to be treated as a separate species, making the new combination A. floridanum (Chapm.) Pax. In 1952, Yves Desmarais took an intermediate option, treating it as a subspecies Acer saccharum subsp. floridanum (Chapm.) Desmarais, a treatment which has fairly wide recent recognition.
A further problem exists with the specific name Acer barbatum, given to a maple by André Michaux
André Michaux
André Michaux was a French botanist and explorer.-Biography:Michaux was born in Satory, now part of Versailles, Yvelines. After the death of his wife within a year of their marriage he took up the study of botany and was a student of Bernard de Jussieu...
in 1803 from samples collected in the Carolinas during his decade in North America from 1785 to 1796. For a long time it was unclear if the plant he collected was Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple) or A. floridanum, as his samples were badly damaged on his return to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. M. L. Fernald reexamined the species in the mid-1940s for the 8th edition of Gray's Manual, published in 1950; on reviewing Michaux's notes on A. barbatum, he decided to apply this name to the Florida Maple in 1945, based on his interpretation that Michaux's samples, which he only knew through notes (Michaux's collections were in Paris, inaccessible as World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
had not yet ended), corresponded more closely to Florida Maple than to Sugar Maple. Since the oldest given name takes precedence, he used the name A. barbatum for the Florida Maple. Many subsequent authors accepted this judgement, such as the United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
, and Wilbur H. Duncan and Marion Duncan's Trees of the Southeastern United States, published in 1988. However, recent examination by D. B. Ward has shown that they are typical Acer saccharum after all, and not A. floridanum as Fernald had thought without examination, and thus Michaux's name is correctly a synonym of A. saccharum.
Distribution and ecology
The distribution is discontinuous in the PiedmontPiedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
and Atlantic Coastal Plain
Atlantic Coastal Plain
The Atlantic coastal plain has both low elevation and low relief, but it is also a relatively flat landform extending from the New York Bight southward to a Georgia/Florida section of the Eastern Continental Divide, which demarcates the plain from the ACF River Basin in the Gulf Coastal Plain to...
from southeastern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
southwest across North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
and Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, as well as into the Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
Panhandle. The range goes farther west across Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, into eastern Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and north through Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
and into eastern Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. The species also occurs in several isolated locations roughly halfway down the Gulf Coast of the Florida peninsula, and also in at least one location in central Oklahoma. The species is also found in isolated locations of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and Kentucky.
The average annual rainfall within the native area ranges from 112 to 163 cm (44 to 64 in). The driest months average no less than 50 mm (2 in). The normal temperatures in January within the range vary from 11° to 18°C (52° to 64°F) maximum, and from -2° to 7°C (28° to 45°F) minimum, whereas in July normal maximums are 29° to 33°C (84° to 91°F), and minimums are 21° to 24°C (70° to 75°F). The tree favours moist, but well-drained fertile soils, especially on stream terrace, in coves, and on adjacent bluffs and ridgetops. It grows best on soils containing calcareous
Calcareous
Calcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...
material such as limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
or marl
Marl
Marl or marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and aragonite. Marl was originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay...
. It also grows well on the densely forested hammocks
Hammock (ecology)
Hammocks are dense stands of hardwood trees that grow on natural rises of only a few inches higher than surrounding marshland that is otherwise too wet to support them. Hammocks are distinctive in that they are formed gradually over thousands of years rising in a wet area through the deposits of...
of Florida, hence its alternative common name hammock maple. It is most often confined to the understory.
Cultivation and uses
While not an overwhelmingly popular tree in cultivation, it is sometimes employed in the Southern United StatesSouthern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
as a shade tree due to its round crown and its greater resistance to heat than that of its more showy relative the sugar maple. Several species of birds and especially squirrels make use of the tree as a nesting site and also consume its seeds as a food source.
Despite the fact that of itself Florida Maple is not employed as a commercial timber species, it is used with associated commercial species when the products are pulpwood
Pulpwood
Pulpwood refers to timber with the principal use of making wood pulp for paper production.-Applications:* Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 16% of world pulp production, old growth forests 9% and second- and third- and more generation forests account for the balance...
, sawtimber, or wood veneer
Wood veneer
In woodworking, veneer refers to thin slices of wood, usually thinner than 3 mm , that are typically glued onto core panels to produce flat panels such as doors, tops and panels for cabinets, parquet floors and parts of furniture. They are also used in marquetry...
stock. It is considered a hard maple and as high quality individuals are suitable for producing furniture, flooring, paneling, and shoe lasts. However, its relative scarcity, small size, and fairly poor shape generally confine its use to only factory and box lumber, and even this is only an occasional occurrence. It has, however, been experiencing growing popularity as an ornamental or shade tree, especially in the southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
due to its high heat resistance. It is also a source of maple syrup
Maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species such as the bigleaf maple. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then...
, though again its size and rarity limit its use in this regard, especially in light of the Sugar Maple's established popularity within the business.