''Acer'' × ''freemanii'', Freeman maple or Freeman's maple, is a naturally occurring hybrid

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

that is the result of a cross between ''

Acer rubrum ''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nati ...

'' (red maple) and ''

Acer saccharinum ''Acer saccharinum'', commonly known as silver maple, creek maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, large maple, water maple, swamp maple, or white maple, is a species of maple native to the eastern and central United States and southeastern Can ...

'' (silver maple). Wild specimens are found in eastern North America where the parent species overlap. The species is named for Oliver M. Freeman of the

U.S. National Arboretum The United States National Arboretum is an arboretum in northeast Washington, D.C., operated by the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. It was established in 1927 by an act of Congress after a campaign by USDA ...

who hybridized ''A. rubrum'' with ''A. saccharinum'' in 1933. The fall foliage is a striking orange-red. It has many commercially available cultivars and is frequently used as a

street tree Urban forestry is the care and management of single trees and tree populations in urban settings for the purpose of improving the urban environment. Urban forestry involves both planning and management, including the programming of care and ...

Cultivars

The cultivars are typically deliberately hybridized and selected in nurseries, not drawn from the wild specimens. Usually infertile (a desirable trait in cultivated maples), they have stronger branch attachments than silver maples and faster growth rates than red maples. *'Armstrong', with a more yellow fall foliage *Autumn Fantasy *'Celzam', trade name *Firefall *'Jeffersred', trade name , recipient of the RHS's Award of Garden Merit *'Marmo', which does not produce seeds *'Morgan' trade name *'Scarsen', trade name *Sienna Glen

Description

Even high-powered morphometric analyses of leaf shape cannot easily distinguish ''Acer × freemanii'' individuals from the parent species. All that can be said is that ''Acer × freemanii'' is generally intermediate between the parents.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acer freemanii freemanii Interspecific plant hybrids Ornamental plant cultivars Ornamental trees Plants described in 1969