Trees Gallery - The Yorkshire Arboretum. Page 1 - Acers.

The Yorkshire Arboretum is at Castle Howard near Malton in North Yorkshire, and has 120 acres of specimen trees planted in what used to be the old deer park. Nowadays the old 10 foot tall walls (attempt to) keep deer out, whereas in the past they would have kept the deer in. There is a cafe and visitor centre at the entrance to the grounds. There is a Yorkshire Arboretum website, which has an excellent interactive map showing the location and details of every tree in their collection.

---

Acer spp.

Acer grove

The west side of the lake at the arboretum has been planted with a variety of acers, giving a spectacular show of colour in autumn as the leaves characteristically go through their spectrum of russet shades. A number are listed below, along with others to be found elsewhere in the grounds. The acer genus covers a great variety from the giant sycamores to the miniature Japanese maples.

---

Acer campestre

Field Maple

Britain's only native maple, it is found growing in woods, scrub and hedgerows, and on chalk lowland. It is widely planted in gardens and parks due to its compact habit, tolerance of pollution and rich autumn colours. The flowers are hermaphrodite containing both male and female floral organs: pistils and stamens , the seeds are samaras a winged achene, a type of fruit in which a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue develops from the ovary wall , paired horizontally. [Woodland Trust]'

---

Acer x freemanii 'Morgan'

Freeman Maple

A.k.a. Morgan Maple, and trade name Indian Summer. A native of USA. A deciduous tree occuring as a natural hybrid and also as an articial hybrid at the US National Arboretum by Oliver Freeman in 1933 , a fast-growing, female clone 20-25m tall, with an open pyramid shape, and . Rounded clusters of tiny red flowers in early spring are followed by greenish winged seeds which are usually sterile. It is the result of a cross between A. rubrum and A. saccharinum, combining the flaming reds of the first with greater tolerance of cold and drought from the second. The bark is silvery grey. Samaras are 3–6 cm long, striated.

---

Acer ginnala divaricatum

Amur Maple

Native to NE Asia and the Amur River valley in Russia. It is a small maple with deciduous leaves, often cultivated in gardens, and as a result potentially invasive in countries such as the USA.

---

Acer Griseum

Paper Bark Maple

A native of Central China, and introduced to Britain in 1901 by Ernest Henry Wilson. It has beautiful papery bark peeling and catching the sunlight. I have a younger version in my garden, growing and thickening its branches each year.

Acer Grosseri

Snake Bark Maple

A small, spreading tree, growing to 10m, with white and grey-green striped bark. It has small yellow-green flowers, held in pendent racemes flower clusters with the separate flowers attached by short equal stalks at equal distances along a central stem. The flowers at the base of the central stem develop first during spring. Some authorities class this as a subspecies of A. davidii, Pere David's maple. It is a native of China, spotted by the missionary Armand David during his time there.

---

Acer Macrophyllum

Big leaf maple

A.k.a. Oregon maple, a large deciduous tree (20 to 48m) native to W North America. It is hermaphroditic bearing both male and female flowers in each raceme . The flowers appear in early spring, before the leaves, followed by a paired winged samara which start to appear at about ten years of age. Used as veneer for furniture, also musical instruments and interior panelling.

---

Acer mono

Painted Maple

A native of Japan, Korea, China and Mongolia, A. mono is sometimes referred to as a subspecies of A. pictum. It can grow to 20m, and have a trunk 1m wide. It has the classic acer 5-lobed palmate leaves (occasionally 7), which turn to yellow in autumn as shown here. It was introduced to Britain in 1881.

---

Acer opalus tomentosum

Italian Maple

Not the best time of year to visit this Italian maple, too early in March even for this early-flowering specimen, with blossom appearing before or with the leaves. Although dubbed "Italian" it is found growing across a number of countries in the Jura mountain range.

---

Acer palmatum

Japanese Maple

Simply labelled as Acer palmatum, with no particular variety noted. A deciduous shrub or small tree up to 10 m dependent on variety, of which there thousands have been cultivated. In its native E Asia it would grow as an understory plant in shady woodlands. It usually has multiple trunks joining close to the ground. Cultivated by Japanese gardeners for centuries, and across the world, with red being the favoured forms. Even in nature, A. palmatum displays considerable genetic variation, with seedlings from the same parent tree typically showing differences in such traits as leaf size, shape, and color. The overall form of the tree can vary from upright to weeping. [Wikipedia]

---

Acer platanoides

Norway Maple

This tree is not in the arboretum (though there are examples there), but was spotted on the way back through Coneysthorpe. A good distinguishing factor is that when a leaf is split off from the branch, it oozes white sap. It is native across a wide area of E and C Europe and W Asia