''Acer grandidentatum'', commonly called bigtooth maple, is a species of maple native to interior western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. It occurs in scattered populations from western Montana to central Texas in the United States and south to

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

in northern Mexico.

Description

It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree growing to tall and a trunk of diameter. The

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

is dark brown to gray, with narrow fissures and flat ridges creating plate-like scales; it is thin and easily damaged. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are opposite, simple, long and broad, with three to five deep, bluntly-pointed lobes, three of the lobes large and two small ones (not always present) at the leaf base; the three major lobes each have 3–5 small subsidiary lobules. The leaves turn golden yellow to red in autumn (less reliably in warmer areas). The flowers appear with the leaves in mid spring; they are produced in corymbs of 5–15 together, each flower yellow-green, about diameter, with no petals. The fruit is a paired samara (two winged seeds joined at the base), green to reddish-pink in color, maturing brown in early fall; each seed is globose, diameter, with a single wing long. File:2016.04.08 13.26.35 DSC03215 - Flickr - andrey zharkikh.jpg, Flowers and emerging spring leaves in early April in Salt Lake County, Utah File:Bigtooth Maple Leaves.jpg, Mature summer leaves in August File:Red leaves (Acer grandidentatum) - Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah (2003).jpg, Fall leaf color in late September

Taxonomy

It is closely related to ''

Acer saccharum ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prima ...

'' (sugar maple), and is treated as a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of it by some botanists, as ''Acer saccharum'' subsp. ''grandidentatum'' (Nutt.) Desmarais.

Distribution and habitat

It grows from the Rocky Mountains in southeast Idaho, through Utah and further south. It commonly grows in limestone soils but can adapt to a wide range of well-drained soils, from sand to clays to even white limestone areas. It prefers sheltered canyons, valleys, and the banks of mountain streams, primarily at higher elevations but occasionally at lower elevations in disjunct locales such as the southern edge of the Edwards Plateau in Texas and in the Wichita Mountains of southwestern Oklahoma.

Cultivation

Although it is found in

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...

over all of its natural range, planted specimens grow well in the maritime climate of Vancouver. It is slow growing when young, and does not have many pests. It is occasionally planted as an ornamental tree, valued for its drought tolerance and ability to grow in rocky landscapes.

Uses

The sweetish sap is used in western North America to make maple sugar.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2702054 grandidentatum Trees of the Southern United States Trees of the Northwestern United States Trees of the South-Central United States Trees of the Southwestern United States Trees of Mexico Trees of the United States Flora of the Rocky Mountains