General: Deciduous shrub or small tree, up to 10 m tall; stems branching, glabrous, young twigs reddish; bark greyish to reddish-purple.
Leaves: Opposite, 2-12 cm wide, 3- to 5-lobed, glabrous to sparsely glandular short-hairy, coarsely toothed, paler on the lower surface, turning yellow to orange or crimson in fall.
Flowers: Inflorescence of flat-topped, terminal or axillary clusters of about 10 flowers, male and female flowers on separate or same plants, appearing with the leaves; petals and sepals yellowish-green.
Fruits: Winged, in pairs, 2-3 cm long, greenish-brown, pairs attached in a V-shape.
2. Flowers 10-50; inflorescence racemose or in panicles; trees up to 30 m tall.
3. Leaves grey, white or purplish below, the stalks without milky juice when cut; inflorescence in long, hanging panicles; fruits glabrous ..........A. pseudoplatanus
3. Leaves green below, the stalks with milky juice when cut; inflorescence racemose or in stiff, more or less erect panicles; fruits glabrous or hairy.
4. Leaves lobed beyond the middle, the tips abruptly sharp-pointed; inflorescence racemose; fruits hairy ..........A. macrophyllum
4. Leaves not lobed beyond the middle, the tips bristlelike; inflorescence in stiff, more or less erect panicles; fruits glabrous ..........A. platanoides
2. Flowers usually less than 10; inflorescence umbellate or corymbose; plants usually shrublike and less than 10 m tall.
5. Leaves 3- to 5-lobed, glabrous to sparsely glandular short-hairy; sepals green.......... A. glabrum
5. Leaves 7- to 9-lobed, soft-hairy beneath and often hairy above; sepals red ..........A. circinatum
Habitat / Range
Mesic to dry forests and rocky slopes in the lowland and montane zones; common throughout BC, except Queen Charlotte Islands and adjacent coast and NE BC; N to SE AK, E to AB and S to OR and MT.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
A shade-tolerant to shade-intolerant, montane to subalpine, Western North American deciduous shrub distributed more in the Cordilleran than the Pacific region. Occurs on nitrogen-rich, water-shedding and water-receiving sites within continental boreal, cool temperate, cool semiarid, and occasionally cool mesothermal climates. Scattered throughout coastal British Columbia; its occurrence increases with increasing continentality. Common on eastern Vancouver Island and in Skeena River valley. Grows with vine maple in the southem coast-interior ecotone. Like A. circinatum, it inhabits open-canopy forests, clearings, and primary succession stages on fragmental colluvial soils. Regenerates abundantly from stump sprouts; it hinders regeneration and growth of shadeintolerant conifers. Characteristic of Moder and Mull humus forms.
