Identifying Features:
For
Maples:
-Opposite
leaves
-Palmately lobed
-Long leafstalks
-Bundle scars are 3
-Fruit in two winged keys.
For
Big Leaf Maples:
-Leaves
are very large.
Images
(All
of these images come from the CalFlora Website)
A
Big Leaf Maple in a riparian habitat.
Photographer:
Charles
Thoreau Townsend
Newly formed two winged "keys" coming from a drooping flower stalk.
Photographer: Charles Webber
The deep palmately arranged lobes of the Maple leaf.
Photographer: Brother Alfred Brousseau
Where are they found?
Big Leaf Maples are found along the Pacific Coast west of the Sierras. They can be found as far north as British Colombia and as far south as Southern California. They are limited by cold temperatures to the north and limited humidity and moisture to the south.
If you find a group of this tree, also look for:
In
old growth temperate rainforst:
Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis), and Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)
Coniferous
forests:
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Grand Fir (Abies grandis)
Redwood
(Sequoia sempervirens)
Mixed
evergreen forests:
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflora)
Pacific Madrone (Arbutus menziesii)
Chinkapin (Castanopsis chrysophylla)
Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia)
Canyon Live Oak (Q. chrysolepis)
Jeffrey Pine (Pinus jeffreyi)
Sugar Pine (P. lambertiana)
Ponderosa Pine (P. ponderosa)
Woodlands:
Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana).
Deciduous
or mixed deciduous/coniferous riparian forests:
Red Alder (Alnus rubra)
White Alder (A. rhombifolia)
Oregon Ash (Fraxinus latifolia)
Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)
Black
Cottonwood (Populus tricocarpa)
Willows (Salix spp.)
Succession Status
Big Leaf Maple plays many roles in the succession of forest environments. In low elevations along rivers it was found living in environments most recently produced by river erosion, but in interior valleys in Oregon it was found to be a late or even climax species along with Douglas Fir.
Ecological Use
Big Leaf Maple trees are abundant "shoot growers". These young sprouts provide good browse for mule deer and black-tailed deer. Some rodents have been known to pull small seedlings down directly into burrows from below. These trees also provide forage in the form of seeds which feed many species including: squirrels, chipmunks, finches and grosbeaks. Several species of small birds nest in these trees.
Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)
