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Portrait of Field maple

Nature · Trees

Field maple

Deciduous · to 20 m

Acer campestre — Sapindaceae

Britain's only native maple, the field maple is a modest hedgerow and woodland-edge tree with small, blunt-lobed leaves that turn a clean butter-yellow in autumn. Its twigs often grow corky wings, and its paired winged fruits are set almost in a straight line. It is the maple to name when a question specifies a native British species.

How to know it

Whole tree of Field maple
Whole tree © Pierre André · CC BY-SA 4.0
Leaf of Field maple
Leaf Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bark of Field maple
Bark Димитър Найденов / Dimìtar Nàydenov · CC BY-SA 3.0

How to spot them

  • ▸Small five-lobed leaves, only 4–7 cm, with blunt rounded lobes and smooth edges, in opposite pairs
  • ▸Milky white sap oozes from a broken leaf stalk
  • ▸Paired samaras held almost horizontally, in a straight line, often flushed pink
  • ▸Twigs slender and often developing corky ridges or wings; buds small and brown
  • ▸Reliable butter-yellow autumn colour

How to know it

Britain's only native maple: small five-lobed leaves with blunt rounded lobes, turning butter-yellow in autumn

Field maple — Acer campestre.

Break a leaf stalk and it bleeds milky white sap; the paired winged fruits are set almost in a straight line

Field maple. Sycamore sap is clear and its samaras meet at about a right angle.

Slender twigs that often develop corky ridges or wings, on a small tree of old hedgerows and wood edges

Field maple.

Its specific epithet means 'of the field', which matches its hedgerow habit

Field maple — Acer campestre.

Its close-grained wood was prized for harps and for the bowls the Anglo-Saxons called mazers

Field maple.

Quick-fire facts

  • •Acer campestre — campestre means 'of the field'; it is the only maple native to Britain
  • •In the Sapindaceae, the soapberry family, along with horse chestnut and lychee
  • •Milky sap in the leaf stalk is shared with Norway maple but not with sycamore — a quick field test
  • •Its samaras spread almost straight out at about 180 degrees; sycamore's meet at roughly a right angle
  • •A traditional hedgerow tree, and one of the best British trees for reliable yellow autumn colour
  • •The fine, hard wood was used for harps, mazer bowls and veneer
  • •It supports aphids and, through them, ladybirds, hoverflies and birds; the flowers are insect-pollinated
  • •The genus name Acer is Latin for 'sharp', from the use of the hard wood for spear shafts

Drill it — 7 cards

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Sources