Silver Maple

Silver Maple - Acer saccharinum

Alternative names
Soft Maple, Acer dasycarpum and as Acer eriocarpum
Description

Silver Maple is a very vigorous deciduous tree with deeply palmately-lobed leaves, silvery-white beneath, turning red and yellow in autumn; small yellow-green flowers appear before the leaves.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

A cultivated species which is occasionally found away from parks and gardens.

When to see it

Flowers early to mid spring.

Life History

Deciduous tree.

UK Status

Very occasionally from away from cultivation.

VC55 Status

Rarely recorded away from cultivation in Leicestershire and Rutland. It was not recorded in the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records

Photo of the association

Vasates quadripedes

The mite Vasates quadripedes causes galls to form on the leaf veins or leaf blades of Silver Maple, but possibly on other similar ornamental Maple species. The galls are round or elongate, shiny, and with a rather knobbly appearance. They are quite large being 1.5 to 5 mm high and may be yellowish green or bright red at first, becoming darker red or black with age. There may be numerous galls on the same leaf.