Acer campestre - Field Maple

Field Maple (Acer campestre) is a maple native to much of Europe, north to southern England (where it is the only native maple), Denmark, Poland and Belarus, and also southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains.

It is a deciduous tree reaching 15-25 m tall, with a trunk up to 1 m diameter, with finely fissured, often somewhat corky bark. The leaves are in opposite pairs, 5-12 cm long (including the 3-6 cm petiole), with five blunt, rounded lobes with a smooth margin.

The flowers are produced in spring at the same time as the leaves open, yellow-green, in erect clusters 4-6 cm across. The fruit is a samara with two winged seeds aligned at 180°, each seed 8-10 mm wide, flat, with a 2 cm wing.

Field Maple is widely grown as an ornamental tree in parks and large gardens, both in Europe, and North America (where it is sometimes called "Hedge Maple"). The wood is white, hard and strong, and used for furniture and flooring, though the small size of the tree and its relatively slow growth make it an unimportant wood.

Height: 100 cm - 125 cm