Acer saccharinum
Silver Maple
Southeast Canada to southern U.S.; not common in southeastern PA.
Upright oval, 50 to70 feet (100 feet) tall. Fast growth rate.
Very adaptable. Grows well in wet or poor soils.
A poor overused selection. Vigorous, aggressive root system; seeds can be a problem. Fast-growing, brittle wood breaks with age; prune to discourage narrow crotches. Can become weak limbed in old age. Good for those who desire fast shade in difficult soil situations. Flowers earlier in the spring than Acer rubrum.
Opposite, simple, 3 to 6 inches across, 5 lobes, acuminate lobes deeply and doubly serrate. Medium-green above, silvery beneath. Yellow fall color.
Clustered buds are red to green.
Gray-brown. Young stems have a fetid odor when crushed.
Flower is yellowish to red
Samara 2 inch long, maturing in the spring.
'Laciniatum' - Finely and deeply cut leaves.
'Silver Queen' - Fruitless. Leaves bright-green above, silver beneath.
