''Acer skutchii'', often called the cloud forest sugar maple, Guatemalan maple, Mexican sugar maple, Skutch maple, or ''álamo plateado'' is a species of flowering plant in the genus '' Acer'', native to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Taxonomy

In 2017, populations growing in the Mexican state of

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...

were split off as a new species, ''

Acer binzayedii ''Acer binzayedii'', commonly known as ''algodoncillo'', is a species of flowering plant in the genus '' Acer''. It is endemic to Jalisco State in western Mexico. It has a limited range, and is considered Critically Endangered. Description ''A ...

''. It is considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of the

sugar maple ''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 ...

, as ''Acer saccharum'' subsp. ''skutchii''.

Range and habitat

Occurring in sheltered ravines on mountain slopes, it is found only in a few widely separated

relict population In biogeography and paleontology, a relict is a population or taxon of organisms that was more widespread or more diverse in the past. A relictual population is a population currently inhabiting a restricted area whose range was far wider during a ...

s within

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

s in Mexico and Guatemala, between 1480 and 2200 meters elevation. Populations are found in

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

El Cielo Biosphere Reserve The El Cielo Biosphere Reserve (''Reserva de la Biosfera El Cielo'' in Spanish) is located in the Sierra Madre Oriental in the southern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas near the town of Gómez Farias. The reserve protects the northernmost ...

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

, and

Sierra de las Minas Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...

in Guatemala.Vargas Rodríguez, Y.L., Crowley, D., Barstow, M. & Rivers, M.C. 2017. Acer skutchii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T103451945A103451954. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T103451945A103451954.en. Accessed on 09 August 2022.

References

skutchii Plants described in 1936 Flora of the Sierra Madre Oriental Trees of Guatemala Trees of Northern America Flora of the Central American montane forests {{Sapindales-stub