5 Awesome Small Maple Trees

There are many “A”s at the alphabet of beloved trees, but for the money, the A+ goes into the genus Acer, more commonly referred to as maples. You understand the form of their leaves, you understand maple syrup, and if you understand plants, you understand big maples like sugar and red maple, as well as smaller, superpopular Japanese maple. But there is a wealth of additional small trees in the pine clan. Here are only a couple — add your favorites in the Comments.

My treasured native maple is snakebark maple (Acer pensylvanicum, zones 3 to 7), which also goes by striped maple, goosefoot maple and moosewood ( here and in first photo). Some time ago I talked about hardy plants that looked tropical, and this is just another one. Its big, rounded leaves grow to 7 inches long, its bark is lined and mottled like snakeskin, and it increases to around 20 feet tall and wide. Fall color (this photo) is fantastic, and cultivar ‘Erythrocladum’ has young stems and branches which are glowing red. This maple is an understory tree, and it requires partial to full shade and cool, damp woodland soil to flourish.

I really like Japanese maples (Acer palmatum), however the Fullmoon maple (Acer shirasawanum, zones 5 to 9) ups the ante with leaves which have up to 13 lobes. This little pine grows 15 to 30 feet tall and wide, and prefers at least light shade, maybe complete shade. The cultivar ‘Aureum’ (shown) is a standout, with spectacular gold foliage. (Yet another gold foliage plant for shade!) It turns stunning shades of red and gold in autumn.

Photo by Wikimedia Commons consumer Abrahami

Maples are not known for fantastic foliage. Even better than snakebark maple, paperbark maple (Acer griseum, zones 4 to 8) is just another little tree with excellent cinnamon-color peeling bark — yet another eye-catching characteristic even in winter. Throughout the growing period, it contrasts with heavy green leaves. Paperbark maple grows to 25 ft high and wide, and so are happy in full sun to part shade.

Photo by Wikimedia Commons consumer Sten

Pacific Northwesterners will soon be familiar with their native vine maple (Acer circinatum, zones 6 to 9), which develops as well in different areas of the country in well-drained land with afternoon shade. This tiny maple grows 20 to 30 ft tall and wide (sometimes more in its home range), and I am especially interested to try some newer cultivars with purple leaves, such as Pacific Purple.

Photo by Wikimedia Commons consumer Walter Siegmund

Looking for all the world like a maple-holly hybrid, evergreen or Cretan maple (Acer sempervirens) hails from Greece, and being a Mediterranean plant, it thrives in ponds with moist winters and droughty summers, as well as poor soil. Additionally, it has incredibly glossy, evergreen to semievergreen foliage, and it is cold hardy as far north as zone 6. I guess this rare walnut’s hardiness is somewhat untested in regions with humid summers — if you live east of the Mississippi and want to attempt it, I propose planting it in a dry place with a great deal of sunlight and lean, fast-draining soil. It increases to roughly 30 feet tall.

Photo by Wikimedia Commons consumer Abrahami

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