Acer leucoderme
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2008-03-29T11:52:10Z
Eubot
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Removed taxobox colour. See [[User:Eubot/Removing colours from taxoboxen]].
{{Taxobox
| name = Chalk Maple
| image =
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption =
| status = G5
| status_system = TNC
| status_ref =<ref name=natureserve>{{Cite web
| publisher =NatureServe
| title = Acer leucoderme
| work = NatureServe Explorer
| url = http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Acer+leucoderme+
| accessdate = 2007-06-17 }}</ref>
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Sapindales]]
| familia = [[Sapindaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Maple|Acer]]''
| species = '''''A. leucoderme'''''
| binomial = ''Acer leucoderme''
| binomial_authority = [[John Kunkel Small|Small]]
}}
'''''Acer leucoderme''''' (English: '''Chalk Maple'''; also '''Whitebark Maple'''), is a [[deciduous]] [[tree]] native to the southeastern [[United States]] from [[North Carolina]] south to northwest [[Florida]] and west to eastern [[Texas]]. It lives in the [[understory]] in moist, rocky soils on river banks, ravines, woods, and cliffs. Although generally a rare tree, it is common in the inner [[coastal plain]] and [[Piedmont (United States)|Piedmont]] regions of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].
It is a small tree, reaching 8-9 m in height and developing a round form with slender branches, and often with multiple trunks. The name "Chalk Maple" (in addition to the Latin name, meaning "white skin") comes from the attractive smooth and thin chalky white or light gray [[bark]] on mature trees. The bark becomes ridged and blackish at the base as it ages. The [[leaf|leaves]] are opposite and simple, 5-9 cm long and broad, often drooping at the tip. They have 5 or 3 long-pointed lobes with wavy or coarsely toothed edges. They are dark green and hairless above, with a yellow-green and softly pubescent underside. In [[autumn]], the leaves turn from a brilliant yellow to orange to deep red. The [[fruit]] is a paired brown [[samara (fruit)|samara]], 2-2.5 cm long, maturing in autumn.
''Acer leucoderme'' is often confused with ''[[Acer floridanum]]'' (Florida Maple), but there are several differences. ''A. leucoderme'' is smaller in size but has larger leaves than Florida Maple. The leaves of ''A. leucoderme'' are yellow-green underneath rather than the whitish underside of Florida Maple. The lobes on the leaves of Florida Maple are squarer and blunter than those of ''A. leucoderme''.
''A. leucoderme'' can be grown as a shade tree or [[reclamation plant]] up through [[USDA plant hardiness zone]] 5B, far north of its natural range. The tree is highly shade- and drought-tolerant.
Some botanists classify ''A. leucoderme'' as a [[subspecies]] of the Sugar Maple: ''[[Acer saccharum|A. saccharum]]'' subsp. ''leucoderme''.
==References==
<references/>
* Little, Elbert L. ''National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-394-50760-6.
==External links==
*[http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/ACELEUA.pdf University of Florida Environmental Horticulture]
*[http://www.treetrail.net/chalk_maple.html Tree Trail]
*[http://www.discoverlife.org/nh/tx/Plantae/Dicotyledoneae/Aceraceae/Acer/leucoderme/ Discover Life]
*[http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/acle.html Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina]
[[Category:Acer|leucoderme]]