Bigtooth Maple, Western Sugar Maple
 

Mature Size, Growth, Longevity

Grows to 25-50', depending on moisture levels and soil conditions. Becomes a large, shrub-like plant with 2-3 trunks or a single-stemmed small tree. Slow-growing when young, but becoming faster with age. Medium longevity potential, 75-150 years.

Native Range

U.S. Native — Native to the southwestern U.S. Found in the wild from southeastern Idaho, south-central to western Montana and western Wyoming, south to Arizona, New Mexico, south-central Texas, and south to Coahuila in northern Mexico. Found at 4,200-9,400' elevation.

Flower and Fruit Details

Flowers are yellow-green, but may only occur every 2-3 years in early-mid spring, and flowers have no petals. Trees may bear male flowers only, or produce both male and female flowers in the same cluster. The fruit is a double-winged, U-shaped, hairy, paired samara. Fruits change from green or reddish-pink to brown in the fall.

Leaf and Bark Features

Deciduous: Leaves are opposite, simple, palmately lobed, pubescent beneath, and 2-4.5" long and wide, depending on soil and moisture factors. Each leaf has 3-5 deeply cut lobes. Leaves turn yellow, orange to red in the fall, offering a showy fall color display. Bark is dark-brown to gray, with narrow fissures and flat ridges, creating plate-like scales. The bark is thin, and thus is easily damaged.

Culture and Care

Drought-tolerant, but grows faster with more moisture. Tolerates acid or alkaline soils. Prefers moist, well-drained soil, but tolerates clay or sand. Prefers full sun for best fall color. Tolerates some shade. Few pest or disease problems. Like most maples, however, it may be attacked by Verticillium Wilt disease.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Other Facts

Good wildlife value. 3-season interest: Spring, Summer and Fall. A close relative of the Sugar Maple, but a smaller, sometimes shrubbier form. Other names for this plant include Lost Maple, Sabinal Maple, Plateau Bigtooth Maple, Limerock Maple, Wasatch Maple, and Rocky Mountain Sugar Maple.

Suggested Uses

Good, small to medium shade tree for its great fall color.

Taxa and Plants of this Species at BCA