Striped Maple

Striped Maple (Acer pensylvanicum)

Moosewood

Part sun to light shade; medium to moderately moist moisture; prefers cool, moist, well-drained loam; pH 4.5–6.5.

15–25 feet tall by 10–15 feet wide; yellow-green flowers in pendulous racemes in May; fruit is a paired samara with widely spreading wings, ripening September–October. Growth rate slow.

Seed germination code C (cold stratification, 90–120 days).

Native region: East Tennessee, concentrated in the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge and Valley provinces; at the southern limit of its range in Tennessee.

Acer pensylvanicum is immediately identified by its green bark streaked with vertical white lines — the source of both common names. It is strictly a cool, moist woodland understory tree and does not perform well in the heat and humidity of Middle Tennessee's lower elevations. At Columbia's Zone 7a conditions, summer heat stress causes leaf scorch and progressive decline; it is best suited to East Tennessee landscapes at higher elevations where summer temperatures are more moderate. Where it does grow, it tolerates deep shade better than most maples and is a reliable understory companion to tulip poplar and eastern hemlock. White-tailed deer browse it heavily, and populations in Tennessee are under consistent grazing pressure in accessible forest understories.