Acer lobelii

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Acer lobelii
Arboretum et fruticetum Britannicum, or - the trees and shrubs of Britain, native and foreign, hardy and half-hardy, pictorially and botanically delineated, and scientifically and popularly described (19127440584).jpg
Illustration from Arboretum et fruticetum Britannicum (1838)
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae
Genus: Acer
Section: Acer sect. Platanoidea
Species:
A. lobelii
Binomial name
Acer lobelii
Synonyms
  • Acer platanoides subsp. lobelii (Ten.) Gams
  • Acer cappadocicum subsp. lobelii (Ten.) De Jong.

Acer lobelii, known as Lobel's maple [1] [2] or L'Obel's maple[ citation needed ] is a rare maple tree native to southern Italy and the western Balkans. [3] [4] Synonyms include Acer platanoides subsp. lobelii [3] and Acer cappadocicum Gled. subsp. lobelii (Ten.) De Jong. [5]

Contents

Description

Acer lobelii is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing 20–25 metres (66–82 ft) tall with a narrow, erect crown. It is one of very few trees with a naturally fastigiate form. The bark is greenish-grey, smooth in young trees, becoming browner and shallowly furrowed in mature trees. The shoots are green covered by a thick glaucous blue-white wax at first, this wearing off within a year but the older shoots remaining green for several years.

The leaves are opposite, palmately lobed with five lobes, 6–12 centimetres (2.4–4.7 in) long and 6–15 centimetres (2.4–5.9 in) across; the lobes are entire or with one or two irregular teeth. The leaf stems bleed a milky latex when broken.

The flowers are in corymbs, yellow-green with five sepals 3–4 millimetres (0.12–0.16 in) long; flowering occurs in early spring. The fruit is a double samara with two winged seeds, the seeds are disc-shaped, strongly flattened, 6–11 millimetres (0.24–0.43 in) across and 2–3 millimetres (0.079–0.118 in) thick. The wings are 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in) long, widely spread, approaching a 180° angle. [4] [6] [7] [8]

Distribution

The species is rare and endangered in Italy, only occurring scattered in small groups in Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests habitats. [9] It was widely considered endemic in southern Italy, [4] [7] [9] but is now also known in the western Balkans (former Yugoslavia), [3] a distribution fairly closely matched by Pinus heldreichii (Bosnian Pine).

It is closely related to, and in some respects intermediate between, Acer cappadocicum , from Asia, and Acer platanoides , from further north in Europe, hence Acer platanoides subsp. lobeli. The suggestion has been made that it could be a natural hybrid between them, but differences from both, notably the strongly glaucous bloom on the young shoots, make treatment as a distinct species more reasonable. [4] [7]

Cultivation and uses

Lobel's maple is grown as an ornamental tree in northern Europe, valued for its narrow crown which makes it suitable for planting in confined spaces. [7] Many of the trees in cultivation are grafted on Acer cappadocicum rootstocks, shown by the numerous root sprouts with Acer cappadocicum foliage. [4] [6]

The horticultural hybrid maple Acer × zoeschense is often cited as having Acer lobelii as one of its parents, [6] though more likely Acer cappadocicum. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Acer platanoides</i> Species of flowering plant in the soapberry family Sapindaceae

Acer platanoides, commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from France east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was brought to North America in the mid-1700s as a shade tree. It is a member of the family Sapindaceae.

<i>Acer pseudoplatanus</i> Species of flowering plant in the lychee family Sapindaceae

Acer pseudoplatanus, known as the sycamore in the United Kingdom and the sycamore maple in the United States, is a flowering plant species in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large deciduous, broad-leaved tree, tolerant of wind and coastal exposure. It is native to Central Europe and Western Asia, from France eastwards to Ukraine, northern Turkey and the Caucasus and southwards in the mountains of northern Spain and Italy.

<i>Acer campestre</i> Species of flowering plant in the lychee family Sapindaceae

Acer campestre, known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. It has been widely planted, and is introduced outside its native range in Europe and areas of USA and Western Australia with suitable climate.

<i>Acer circinatum</i> Species of maple

Acer circinatum, the vine maple, is a species of maple native to western North America, from southwest British Columbia to northern California, usually within 300 kilometres (190 mi) of the Pacific Ocean coast, found along the Columbia Gorge and Coastal Forest. It belongs to the Palmatum group of maple trees native to East Asia with its closest relatives being the Acer japonicum and Acer pseudosieboldianum. It can be difficult to distinguish from these species in cultivation. It is the only member of the Palmatum group that resides outside of Asia.

<i>Acer cappadocicum</i> Species of maple

Acer cappadocicum, the Cappadocian maple, is a maple native to Asia, from central Turkey east along the Caucasus, the Himalaya, to southwestern China.

<i>Acer ginnala</i> Species of plant

Acer ginnala, the Amur maple, is a plant species with woody stems native to northeastern Asia from easternmost Mongolia east to Korea and Japan, and north to the Russian Far East in the Amur River valley. It is a small maple with deciduous leaves that is sometimes grown as a garden subject or boulevard tree.

<i>Acer tataricum</i> Species of tree

Acer tataricum, the Tatar maple or Tatarian maple, is a species of maple widespread across central and southeastern Europe and temperate Asia, from Austria and Turkey east as far as Japan and the Russian Far East. The species is named after the Tatar peoples of southern Russia; the tree's name is similarly commonly also spelled "Tartar" in English.

<i>Acer opalus</i> Species of maple

Acer opalus, the Italian maple, is a species of maple native to the hills and mountains of southern and western Europe, from Italy to Spain and north to southern Germany, and also in northwest Africa in Morocco and Algeria.

<i>Acer shirasawanum</i> Species of maple

Acer shirasawanum, the Shirasawa maple or fullmoon maple, is a species of maple native to Japan, on central and southern Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū.

<i>Acer japonicum</i> Species of maple

Acer japonicum, the Amur maple, downy Japanese-maple or fullmoon maple, is a species of maple native to Japan, on Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, and also southern Korea.

<i>Acer × zoeschense</i>

Acer × zoeschense is a hybrid maple, a cross between Acer campestre, and either Acer lobelii or Acer cappadocicum. While Field Maple parentage is universally accepted, the second parent is uncertain, though the tree's extensive production of root sprouts favours A. cappadocicum over A. lobelii. It takes its name from Zöschen Nurseries in Germany, where it first appeared as a garden hybrid at some time before 1870.

<i>Acer davidii</i> Species of maple

Acer davidii, or Père David's maple, is a species of maple in the snakebark maple group. It is native to China, from Jiangsu south to Fujian and Guangdong, and west to southeastern Gansu and Yunnan.

<i>Acer sieboldianum</i>

Acer sieboldianum is a species of maple native to Japan and common in the forests of Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku and Kyūshū Islands; in the south of the range it is restricted to mountain forests. It is named after Philipp Franz von Siebold.

<i>Acer cissifolium</i> Species of maple

Acer cissifolium is a maple native to Japan, from southern Hokkaidō south through Honshū and Shikoku to Kyūshū.

<i>Acer truncatum</i> Species of maple

Acer truncatum, the Shantung maple, Shandong maple, or purpleblow maple, is a maple native to northern China, in the provinces of Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, and to Korea.

Acer miaotaiense is a species of maple endemic to China. It grows in mixed forests of southeastern Gansu, southwestern Henan, northwestern Hubei, southern Shaanxi, and Zhejiang.

<i>Acer miyabei</i> Species of maple

Acer miyabei is a species of maple native to Japan, where it occurs in Hokkaidō and the Tōhoku region in northern Honshū.

<i>Acer sempervirens</i>

Acer sempervirens, the Cretan maple, is a species of maple native to southern Greece and southern Turkey.

<i>Acer hyrcanum</i> Species of maple

Acer hyrcanum is a maple species sometimes referred to as Balkan maple. It grows in southeastern Europe and western Asia.

References

  1. Crowley, D.; Rivers, M.C. (2017). "Acer lobelii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T193529A2242167. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T193529A2242167.en . Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  2. "Acer cappadocicum subsp. lobelii" . Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Euro+Med Plantbase Project: Acer lobelii Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins. ISBN   0-00-220013-9.
  5. Huxley, A. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan. ISBN   0-333-47494-5.
  6. 1 2 3 Mitchell, A. F. (1974). A Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe. Collins. ISBN   0-00-212035-6.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Mitchell, A. F. (1982). The Trees of Britain and Northern Europe. Collins. ISBN   0-00-219037-0.
  8. Bean, W. J. (1976). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles 8th ed. 1. John Murray. ISBN   0-7195-1790-7.
  9. 1 2 Guarino, C., & Napolitano, F. (2006). Community habitats and biodiversity in the Taburno-Camposauro Regional Park. Woodland, rare species, endangered species and their conservation. Forest@ 3 (4): 527-541. p.539: Results. Habitat and species biodiversity.