Plant Name: Acer platanoides
Common Name: Norway Maple
Prepared by: Ruhee and E.R.S
Plant Taxonomy Unit — Science Grade 6
Website For Our Tree: https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/plantfinder/plantfindersearch.aspx
Resource Browser for Our Tree: https://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/tree-plant-descriptions
CHECK LIST — PLANT IDENTIFICATION
-Habit -
Shade tree
Open
Asymmetrical, horizontal branches
-Bark –
Texture — Looks like strips and feels rough.
Color — The bark is brown with green flecks of color.
-Leaves –
Deciduous = seasonally sheds all leaves
Evergreen = gradually sheds leaves, retains in winter in this climate
Needle leaves (yes, still are called leaves) are very thin eg. Pine needles
Broad leaves are almost everything else.
An evergreen tree can have broad or needle leaves.
A deciduous tree can have broad or needle leaves. For eg. Larch is a deciduous evergreen.
-More about Leaves-
On the tree — attached to stem opposite another leaf, alternating along stem, or bunched in a whorl along the stem. Look carefully, may be whorled at end and alternate along the stem. The leaves are divided into 5 lobes and each lobe has 3 pointy edges.
-The leaf shape — many ways to describe:
Simple
Opposite, long, wide
The edges of the leaves — toothed
The veins of the leaf — midvein
The texture of leaf — the leaf feels soft and sort of bumpy when you run your finger along the veins of the leaf.
Leaf is shaped like a monarch crown.
-Flowers-
The flowers are greenish-yellow. Both male and female flowers are on the same tree.
Fruits, seeds, reproductive structures
The seeds are in propellor shaped pods.
-Ornamental Comments-
The tree in the autumn produces mostly pale yellow leaves although it does produce red, orange, and brown leaves. The Norway Maple can grow up to approximately 40 -60 feet. The leaves produce a milky sap at the end of the stem. The leaves in the summer are a pale green that are clustered at the top of the tree. The tree in the winter has buds at the end of the branches to prepare for spring. The tree protects the buds from the cold by using the ground heat.
-Other Identification-
The leaves produce a milky sap at the end of the stem.
The top of the tree looks like a big round bush
The tree is non-native, is everywhere
Norway Maples have invasive traits that enable them to spread aggressively.
The bark rub drawings look something like Arabic Writing.
