- Acer glabrum
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Acer glabrum 
A. glabrum subsp. douglasii, Olympic National Forest Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Rosids Order: Sapindales Family: Sapindaceae Genus: Acer Species: A. glabrum Binomial name Acer glabrum
Torr.Acer glabrum is a species of maple native to western North America, from southeastern Alaska, British Columbia and western Alberta, east to western Nebraska, and south through Washington, Montana and Colorado to California, Arizona and New Mexico.[1]
Contents
Description
Acer glabrum is a small tree growing to 10 m tall, with a trunk up to 20–30 cm diameter. The leaves are 2–10 cm broad, three-lobed (rarely five-lobed), variable in the depth of lobing, occasionally so deeply lobed as to be divided into three leaflets; the lobes have an acute apex and a coarsely serrated margin. The flowers are produced in corymbs of five to ten, yellowish-green, at the same time as the new leaves in spring. The fruit is a samara or winged seed. These develop in pairs at an angle of less than 45° when mature.[2][3]
Varieties
There are four to six varieties, some of them treated by some authors at the higher rank of subspecies:[1][3][4]
- Acer glabrum var. glabrum (syn. subsp. glabrum; Rocky Mountain Maple)– Rocky Mountains, Montana to New Mexico
- Acer glabrum var. diffusum (Greene) Smiley (syn. subsp. diffusum (Greene) A.E.Murray; Rocky Mountain Maple) – eastern California, Nevada, Utah
- Acer glabrum var. douglasii (Hook.) Dippel (syn. subsp. douglasii (Hook.) Wesm.; Douglas Maple) – Alaska south to Washington and Idaho
- Acer glabrum var. greenei Keller (Greene's Maple) – endemic-central California
- Acer glabrum var. neomexicanum (Greene) Kearney & Peebles (syn. subsp. neomexicanum (Greene) A.E.Murray; New Mexico Maple) – New Mexico
- Acer glabrum var. torreyi (Greene) Smiley (syn. subsp. torreyi (Greene) A.E.Murray; Torrey Maple) – endemic-Northern California
It is sometimes referred to as "rock maple", due to the extreme hardness of the wood, which often requires special cutting tools.[citation needed] Not to be confused with Acer saccharum, the Sugar Maple, which is also referred to as "Hard Maple" or "Rock Maple" or "Hard Rock Maple".
Ecology
Acer glabrum is plentiful in many parts of the Rocky Mountains, often growing with Ponderosa Pine, Douglas-fir, and Quaking Aspen.[5]
Uses
Some Plateau Indian tribes drank an infusion of Douglas maple as a treatment for diarrhea.[6] Cut into veneers, layers of rock maple laminate are frequently used in the manufacture of skateboards and the cases of some grand piano brands (most notably instruments produced by Steinway and Sons.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b Germplasm Resources Information Network: Acer glabrum
- ^ Plants of British Columbia: Acer glabrum
- ^ a b Jepson Flora Project: Acer glabrum var. diffusum, var. greenei, var. torreyi
- ^ USDA Plants Profile: Acer glabrum
- ^ USDA Forestry Service, Fire Effects Information: Acer glabrum
- ^ Hunn, Eugene S. (1990). Nch'i-Wana, "The Big River": Mid-Columbia Indians and Their Land. University of Washington Press. p. 351. ISBN 0-295-97119-3.
Categories:- Acer
- Trees of the Western United States
- Trees of Western Canada
- Trees of Alberta
- Trees of the West Coast (U.S.)
- Flora of the Sierra Nevada region (U.S.)
- Flora of the Rocky Mountains
- Trees of Alaska
- Trees of California
- Trees of Colorado
- Trees of New Mexico
- Traditional Native American medical plants
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