Norway Maple
Norway Maple
Botanical Name: Acer platanoides LFamily Name: Sapindaceae – Soapberry familyOrigin: Europe, Asia, ScandinaviaThe Norway maple can reach as far as 100 feet with a trunk that can grow up to 5 feet in diameter. It develops a broad crown providing lots of shade. It is a pioneer tree, introduced to North America between 1750 and 1760 as a shade tree. It is native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, ranging from Scandinavia to Iran. Sometimes people mistake it for its relative, the sugar maple. But the Norway maple produces milky sap whereas the sugar maple produces clear sap.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the Norway maple became popular for lawns and streets to replace the large-scale loss of American elms that died from the Dutch elm disease. The Norway maple enjoys the advantage of having tall trunk that enables it to survive in poor, compacted soils and urban pollution.
They can have severe environmental impacts, however. They grow faster than other forest trees and their dense, shallow root system makes it difficult for plants and grass to grow beneath its shade. In North America, it usually lives less than 60 years when planted near streets. Due to insufficient space for its root network, the tree roots will wrap around themselves and kill the tree. They often cause significant damage and cleanup costs when branches break off in storms. It is considered invasive in some states and its sale is banned in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The wood from a Norway maple is hard and has a yellowish white to reddish color. It is rated ambiguously between hard and soft maple. It is used for furniture, flooring and musical instruments. It is believed that the famous Italian violin makers Stradivari and Guarneri used Norway Maple for their violins.
Norway maples leaves are simple. They are broader than high, about four to seven inches wide, with five to seven lobes. Whereas most trees in spring leaf based on temperature, the Norway maple leafs based on the amount of light. As a result, the Norway maples will leaf earlier than other trees in spring, usually April. In the fall, Norway maple leaves typically turn yellow, sometimes red. The leaves change color later in the fall and stay on the tree longer than other maples. The bark of a Norway maple is grayish black and furrowed.
