Acer negundo
Acer negundo | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Sapindales |
Family: | Sapindaceae |
Genus: | Acer |
Section: | Acer sect. Negundo |
Series: | Acer ser. Negundo |
Species: | A. negundo
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Binomial name | |
Acer negundo | |
Native range of Acer negundo | |
Synonyms[2] | |
List
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Acer negundo, the box elder, boxelder maple, Manitoba maple or ash-leaved maple, is a species of maple native to North America. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with opposite, compound leaves. It is sometimes considered a weedy or invasive species, and has been introduced to and naturalized throughout much of the world, including in South America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, much of Europe, and parts of Asia.[3][4]
Description
Acer negundo is a fast-growing and fairly short-lived tree that grows up to 10–25 metres (35–80 feet) tall, with a trunk diameter of 30–50 centimetres (12–20 inches), rarely up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) diameter. It often has several trunks and can form impenetrable thickets.[4] The typical lifespan of box elder is 60 - 75 years. Under exceptionally favorable conditions, it may live to 100 years.[5]
The shoots are green, often with a whitish to pink or violet waxy coating when young. Branches are smooth, somewhat brittle, and tend to retain a fresh green color rather than forming a bark of dead, protective tissue. The bark on its trunks is pale gray or light brown, deeply cleft into broad ridges, and scaly.[6]
Unlike most other maples (which usually have
The yellow-green flowers are small and appear in early spring, with staminate flowers in clusters on slender pedicels and pistillate flowers on drooping racemes 10–20 cm (4–8 in) long.
The fruit is a schizocarp of two single-seeded, winged samaras on drooping racemes. Each seed is slender, 1–2 cm (1⁄2–3⁄4 in) long, with a 2–3 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄4 in) incurved wing; they drop in autumn or they may persist through winter. Seeds are usually both prolific and fertile.[6]
Unlike most other maples, A. negundo is fully
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Leaves and fruit
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Autumn leaf color
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Retained seeds in winter
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Seedling
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Sprawling, multi-stemmed growth form
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Fruit.
Taxonomy
A few botanists treat boxelder maple in its own distinct genus (Negundo aceroides) but this is not widely accepted.[citation needed]
Common names
Indicative of its familiarity to many people over a large geographic range, A. negundo has numerous common names. The names "box elder" and "boxelder maple" are based upon the similarity of its whitish wood to that of
Other common names are based upon this maple's similarity to
Names vary regionally. Box elder, boxelder maple, ash-leaved maple, and maple ash are among its common names in the United States. In Canada it is commonly known as Manitoba maple and occasionally as elf maple.[10] In the British Isles it is known as box elder[11] or ashleaf maple.[12] In Russia it is known as American maple (Russian: америка́нский клён, tr. amerikansky klyon) as well as ash-leaf maple (Russian: клён ясенели́стный, tr. klyon yasenelistny).
Because of its leaflets' superficial similarity to those of poison ivy, Acer negundo saplings are often mistaken for the allergenic plant. While both poison ivy and Acer negundo have compound leaves composed of three leaflets with ragged edges, Acer negundo exhibits an opposite branching pattern, as opposed to the alternating pattern of poison ivy.[13] Like poison ivy, Acer negundo is also a noted riparian species, and can often be found growing along riverbeds and in wet soils generally. For all these reasons, and despite their obvious differences, Acer negundo is sometimes referred to informally as the poison ivy tree.[14]
Subspecies
Acer negundo is often divided into three or more subspecies, some of which were originally described as separate species. These are:[15]
- Acer negundo subsp. negundo, native from the Atlantic Coast to the Rocky Mountains.[4]
- Acer negundo subsp. interior (Britton) Sarg., with more leaf serration than the matte leaf surface, is native from Saskatchewan to New Mexico, between the eastern and western subspecies.[4]
- Acer negundo var. arizonicum Sarg. is native to Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico.[15]
- Acer negundo subsp. californicum (Torr. & A.Gray) Sarg., with larger leaves with a velvety texture, is found in parts of California.[4][15]
- Acer negundo subsp. mexicanum (DC.) Wesm. is native to Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras.[15]
- Acer negundo var. texanum Pax is native to the southern United States from Virginia to New Mexico, and to northeastern Mexico.[15]
- Acer negundo var. violaceum (Booth ex Loudon) H.Jaeger is native to the Northeastern coastal United States and to the northern interior United States from the Ohio Valley to the Columbia River basin.[15]
Some authors further subdivide A. negundo subsp. negundo into a number of regional varieties but these intergrade and their maintenance as distinct
Distribution and habitat
Acer negundo is native across much of the United States (mostly in the east)[7] and south-central Canada, and can be found as far south as Guatemala.
Box Elder County, Utah is named for this tree.[citation needed]
Although native to
It can quickly
This species prefers bright sunlight. It often grows on flood plains and other disturbed areas with ample water supply, such as
Ecology
Several birds and some squirrels feed on the seeds. The evening grosbeak uses them extensively.[18]
The boxelder bug (Boisea trivittata) lays its eggs on all maples, but prefers this species, clustering the eggs in bark crevices.[17] The rosy maple moth (Dryocampa rubicunda) also lays its eggs on the leaves of maple trees, including Acer negundo. The larvae feed on the leaves, and in very dense populations can cause defoliation.[19]
Small galls are formed on the leaves by a bladder mite, Aceria negundi. A gall midge, Contarinia negundinis joins and enlarges the galls of Aceria negundi. The midge sometimes creates a separate, tubular gall on the midrib or veins of the undersides of the leaves.[17]
The cottony maple leaf scale, Pulvinaria acericola, occurs on the foliage of Acer negundo.[17] A leaf spot fungus, Septoria negundinis creates black-ringed lesions on the leaves.[17]
Cultivation
Although its weak wood, irregular form, and prolific seeding might make it seem like a poor choice for a landscape tree, A. negundo is one of the most common maples in cultivation. Long-term success has been noted as far north as Yellowknife.[20] Many cultivars have been developed, such as:[4]
- 'Auratum' – yellowish leaves with smooth undersides
- 'Aureomarginatum' – creamy yellow leaf margins
- 'Baron' – Hardier & seedless variety
- 'Elegans' – distinctively convex leaves
- 'Flamingo' – pink and white variegation (very popular)
- 'Pendulum' – with weeping branches.
- 'Variegatum' – creamy white leaf margins
- 'Violaceum' – younger shoots and branches have bluish color
Toxicity
A
Acer negundo pollen, which is released in winter or spring (varying with latitude and elevation)[24] is a severe allergen.[24]
Uses
Wood
Although its light, close-grained, soft wood is considered undesirable for most commercial uses, this tree has been considered as a source of wood fiber, for use in fiberboard.[citation needed] There is also some commercial use of the tree for various decorative applications, such as turned items (bowls, stem-ware, pens). Such purposes generally use burl or injured wood, as the injured wood develops a red stain.[citation needed]
The wood has been used for a variety of purposes by
The Dakota people and the Omaha people[30][31] make the wood into charcoal, which is used in ceremonial painting and tattooing.[32][30] The Kiowa burn the wood in the altar fire during the peyote ceremony.[33]
Acer negundo was identified as the material used in the oldest extant wood flutes from the Americas. The flutes, excavated by Earl H. Morris in 1931 in Northeastern Arizona, have been dated to 620–670 CE.[34]
Medicinal use
Acer negundo has been used by Native Americans for several medicinal purposes. The
As food
The sap has been used to make syrup by Native Americans, including the
Citations
- . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ The Plant List
- ^ "Acer negundo". keyserver.lucidcentral.org. Weeds of Australia. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g van Gelderen, C.J. & van Gelderen, D.M. (1999). Maples for Gardens: A Color Encyclopedia.
- ^ CABI datasheet. Available at https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/2862 (accessed 04/10/2022)
- ^ a b Keeler, H. L. (1900). Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 85–87.
- ^ OCLC 1141235469.
- ^ "DePauw Nature Park Field Guide to Trees" (PDF). DePauw University. p. 14. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- scientific names.
- ^ "Community trees of the Prairie provinces". Natural Resources Canada. 2007-02-22. Archived from the original on 2008-05-18.
- ^ "Acer negundo". www.rhs.org. Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
- ^ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
- ^ Trees with Don Leopold - boxelder, archived from the original on 2021-12-12, retrieved 2021-06-19
- ^ Tree Talk: Boxelder, archived from the original on 2021-12-12, retrieved 2021-06-19
- ^ a b c d e f Acer negundo L. Plants of the World Online, Kew Science. Accessed 26 January 2023
- ^ Uva, R.H., J.C. Neal, and J.M. DiTomaso. 1997. Weeds of the Northeast. Cornell University Press. Ithaca, New York.
- ^ a b c d e Wilhelm, Gerould; Rericha, Laura (2017). Flora of the Chicago Region: A Floristic and Ecological Synthesis. Indiana Academy of Sciences.
- ISBN 978-1-58465-215-1.
- ^ "Dryocampa rubicunda (rosy maple moth)". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
- ^ "Manitoba Maple (Acer negundo)". 31 August 2018.
- ^ "Seasonal pasture myopathy". Michigan State University. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ Anna Renier. "Seasonal pasture myopathy cause identified". University of Minnesota Extension. Archived from the original on 2017-11-27. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
- S2CID 206002430.
- ^ a b "Box Elder, Ash-Leaf Maple (Acer negundo)". PollenLibrary.com.
- ^ Elmore, Francis H. (1944). Ethnobotany of the Navajo. Santa Fe, NM. School of American Research (p. 62)
- ^ Hart, Jeffrey A. (1981). "The Ethnobotany of the Northern Cheyenne Indians of Montana." Journal of Ethnopharmacology 4:1–55 (p. 46).
- ^ a b c d e Hart, Jeff (1992). Montana Native Plants and Early Peoples. Helena. Montana Historical Society Press (p. 4)
- ^ Robbins, W.W., J.P. Harrington and B. Freire-Marreco (1916). "Ethnobotany of the Tewa Indians." SI-BAE Bulletin #55 (p. 38).
- ^ Swank, George R. (1932). The Ethnobotany of the Acoma and Laguna Indians. University of New Mexico, M.A. Thesis (p. 24).
- ^ a b c d Gilmore, Melvin R. (1919). "Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River Region." SI-BAE Annual Report #33 (p. 101)
- ^ Gilmore, Melvin R. (1913). "A Study in the Ethnobotany of the Omaha Indians." Nebraska State Historical Society Collections 17:314–57. (p. 336).
- ^ a b Gilmore, Melvin R. (1913). "Some Native Nebraska Plants With Their Uses by the Dakota." Nebraska State Historical Society Collections 17:358–70 (p. 366)
- ^ Vestal, Paul A. and Richard Evans Schultes (1939). The Economic Botany of the Kiowa Indians. Cambridge MA. Botanical Museum of Harvard University (p. 40)
- ^ Clint Goss (2011). "Anasazi Flutes from the Broken Flute Cave". Retrieved 2011-10-18.
- ^ Smith, Huron H. (1928). "Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki Indians." Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4:175–326 (p. 200)'
- ^ Smith, Huron H. (1932). "Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians." Bulletin of the Public Museum of Milwaukee 4:327–525 (p. 353)
- ^ Gilmore, Melvin R. (1913). "A Study in the Ethnobotany of the Omaha Indians." Nebraska State Historical Society Collections 17:314–57. (p. 329).
- ^ Johnston, Alex (1987). Plants and the Blackfoot. Lethbridge, Alberta. Lethbridge Historical Society (p. 44).
- ^ Blankinship, J. W. (1905). "Native Economic Plants of Montana." Bozeman. Montana Agricultural College Experimental Station, Bulletin 56 (p. 16)
- ^ Castetter, Edward F. and M. E. Opler (1936). "Ethnobiological Studies in the American Southwest III. The Ethnobiology of the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache." University of New Mexico Bulletin 4(5):1–63 (p. 44).
- ^ Hart, Jeffrey A. (1981). "The Ethnobotany of the Northern Cheyenne Indians of Montana." Journal of Ethnopharmacology 4:1–55 (p. 13).
- ^ Smith, Huron H. (1932). "Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians." Bulletin of the Public Museum of Milwaukee 4:327–525 (p. 394).
General and cited references
- Maeglin, Robert R.; Lewis F. Ohmann (1973). "Boxelder (Acer negundo): A Review and Commentary". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 100 (6): 357–363. JSTOR 2484104.
- Philips, Roger. Trees of North America and Europe. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-50259-0, 1979.