Acer campestre (common name Field Maple) is a maple native from north to southern England (where it is only native maple in the British Isles) and on hills up to 1200m, to much of Europe except Greece, Denmark, Poland and Belarus, Norway and Sweden and Northern Russia and west through Asia Minor to the Caspian sea, and also southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. Outside its range it is widely known as Hedge Maple, resembles a miniature Acer platanoides in habit and form. Typically found at the edges of woods and in hedgerows. This plant is a traditional species to use in a mixed wildlife hedge where its height can be controlled. As a shade-tolerant plant, it is often found in the shade of other trees in the wild. Frequently associated with ash, hazel and oak. Supports epiphytic lichens and bryophytes and wide range of insects. Coppices strongly and suitable for hedges standing clipping. Doesn't mind exposed, windy sites, the least particular of all maples as to temperature. However, it won't do well in dense shade or wet. It's good for coastal and chalky areas. Field Maple likes well-drained, moist, heavy soils calcerous at depth but not lime free (ph 5.5 to 7.7).This small to medium-sized deciduous tree has an oval crown that becomes round with age, and which grows well during the first 20-25 years to 10-15m, matures at 50 years and can live to 100 years. Max height of 25m, but often reaches only 10-15 m in height or remains as a shrub when coppiced. Diameter: 0.5-1 m. The bark is grey / brown with a cork-like texture and is deeply fissured with wide orange fissures or cracked into squares. Older trees grey-brown or dark grey with fine cracks and pale ridges. Field maple is an intermediate species in the succession of disturbed areas; it typically is not among the first trees to colonise a freshly disturbed area, but instead seeds in under the existing vegetation. It is very shade-tolerant during the initial stages of its life, but it has higher light requirements during its seed-bearing years. It exhibits rapid growth initially, but is eventually overtaken and replaced by other trees as the forest matures.
| Shoots: dark brown above, light brown beneath, finely pubescent; second year striated and roughened, often thickly corky and winged by fifth year this characteristic varies from one individual to the next. Bud red-brown with grey, pubescent tip; 3 mm. However, it is the brilliantly coloured foliage which makes the field maple so attractive. The deeply cut, leaves are in opposite pairs, 5-12 cm long (including the 3-6 cm petiole), with three to five blunt, rounded lobes with a smooth margin, basal lobes small with two irregular teeth on basal edge, three main lobes large, either cut halfway to base and parallel inner half or, on big leaves, cut almost to base and wedge-shaped narrowing to base, each lobe with a rounded tooth at the shoulder, or sinuate margin, triangular end and finely rounded tip; to 8-12 cm, deeply cordate, and are pink when they first appear, changing to deep green by late summer (new growth in hedges in summer bright red briefly) sub-shiny |
| beneath, tufted vein axils, on a leaf stalk with milky sap, petiole slender, green or bright pink, 5-(9) cm. In autumn the leaf colour changes again, this time to red and bright yellow over long period, some red and some later purple. They are hairless above but downy below, at least on the veins, and are on stalks 10-20 mm long. The leaf surface may have 'blisters' caused by a gall-forming mite. Leaves drop in November. Flowers and leaves appear together April to Mid-May, about ten small, widely spaced in erect head clusters of 10-20, 4-6 cm across, inconspicuous yellow umbel grapes with small yellow-green 5 petalled flowers, in hermaphrodite heads. There are male and female flowers on the same tree. The males have 8 showy stamens, the females a forked style. |
| Clusters of small, yellow-green flowers are followed in August and September by brown winged fruit, carried in pairs. The fruits are 2-4 cm across and consist of a pair of 'propellers' each with a seed enclosed in a hairy swelling at the base. The fruit is a samara with two winged seeds aligned at greater than 135 degrees apart , each seed 8-10 mm wide, flat, with a 2 cm wing. Four in a bunch, finely pubescent or glabrous bright yellow-green, stained crimson often used by children as helicopters. |
Similar species: The sycamore is a native of Central Europe and widely distributed in the British Isles. Believed introduced pre 600. Distinguished by red stems if leaves and angled pair of helicopter seeds rather than in line. Norway Maples (Acer platanoides) is another common introduced species.There are two varieties, not accepted as distinct by all authorities:
Cultivars Propagation and growth: Grown from seed. Deeply dormant. Treat seed for approx 34 weeks - from collection to planting following spring. Mix with peat and sand, keep moist and allow to fluctuate outside naturally outside as would naturally occur but protect from predators. Natural germination typically takes 18 months. Produces viable seed most years. Approx 9000 seed per Kg. Among the many cultivars of A. campestre are those with a reddish tone (like 'Red Shine' and 'Royal Ruby'), those with a golden tone (such as 'Postelense'), and variegated varieties (most notably 'Carnival'). There are also a number of cultivars selected for habit, such as the less-shrubby 'Elsrijk', the pendulous 'Green Weeping', the small and globular 'Nanum', and the almost columnar 'Queen Elizabeth'. Location: Sun to half-shade
Liabilities
None are common in the trade, but several are occasionally seen. Several have colored leaves, including 'Pulverentum' with variegated foliage, 'Postelense' with leaves that emerge yellow and mature to green, and 'Schwerinii' with new purple foliage that turns green. Selections with variation in form are more common, with 'Compactum' (also known as 'Nanum') assuming the proportions of an attractive dense shrub only perhaps 6' tall. Bonsai Among maples not endemic to Japan, A. campestre (and the similar A. monspessulanum) are popular among bonsai enthusiasts. The dwarf cultivar 'Microphyllum' is especially useful in this regard. A. campestre bonsai have an appearance distinct from those created from maples such as A. palmatum with more frilly, translucent, leaves. The shrubby habit and smallish leaves of A. campestre respond well to techniques encouraging ramification and leaf reduction. Field Maple is widely grown as an ornamental tree in parks and large gardens. The wood is white and fine grained, 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. Rarely produces timber sized trees and hence used for turnery, marketry, and craft work. Wood was used in the Middle Ages for making musical instruments. Maple wood is used for violin making, forming the back, sides and neck of an instrument.According to Alsation folklore, placing branches of Maple in the house would ensure protection against bats. It would also ensure that any nesting storks were safe from disturbance and their chicks from being killed in their eggs. There was a belief that passing a child through the branches would ensure a long life for him or her.
Source: http://hedgerowmobile.com/fieldmaple.html
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Drought tolerant |  |
Shadow |
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Average water demand |  |
Half-shade |
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High water demand |  |
Sunny |
ZONE: The USDA Hardiness Zone of the plant. See the chart of USDA Hardiness Zones HERE!
SIZE: The size of the plant in centimeter.
QUALITY: For example: K1: we grow the plant in 1 liter container, CSP8x8: we grow the plant in 8x8 cm pot, SZGY: we ship the plant with bare root (carefully packed), FL: we ship the plant with root ball.
