Acer opalus

taxobox
name = Italian Maple

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image_caption = Italian Maple leaves in autumn
regnum = Plantae
unranked_divisio = Angiosperms
unranked_classis = Eudicots
unranked_ordo = Rosids
ordo = Sapindales
familia = Sapindaceae
genus = "Acer"
species = "A. opalus"
binomial = "Acer opalus"
binomial_authority = Mill.|

"Acer opalus" (Italian Maple) is a species of maple native to the hills and mountains of southern and western Europe, from Italy to Spain and north to southern Germany, and also in northwest Africa in Morocco and Algeria.Flora Europaea: [http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Acer&SPECIES_XREF=opalus&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= "Acer opalus"] ] Rushforth, K. (1999). "Trees of Britain and Europe". Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.]

It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 20 m tall, with a trunk up to 1 m diameter. The leaves are glossy green, 7-13 cm long and 5-16 cm across, palmately lobed with blunt teeth. They turn yellow in autumn. The bark is grey and pink. It peels in square plates. It has small yellow flowers that open before the leaves appear. The fruit is a pair of winged samaras, each seed 1 cm diameter with a 1.5-2.5 cm wing.

Trees with shallowly lobed leaves are sometimes separated as a distinct subspecies "Acer opalus" subsp. "obtusatum", but the characters are not constant and the species is treated as monotypic by the "Flora Europaea".

References