Acer platanoides L. – Family: Sapindaceae

General Characteristics

A deciduous tree up to 20 meters tall, with dark gray-brown bark and a dense, umbrella-shaped crown. 

The leaves are deciduous, palmate with 5 acuminate lobes, long petiolate, glabrous, with a leaf blade up to 15 cm long. 

The flowers are hermaphroditic or unisexual, gathered in globose, erect corymbs; they have 5 yellowish petals; flowering occurs before the leaves emerge in April. 

The fruits are yellowish samaras, 5 cm long, with wings diverging at an angle of 160°.

USES

The wood is used as fuel and in carpentry.

CURIOSITIES

The flowers are nectar-rich, and there are many ornamental cultivars.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

A wild species in Europe, from Spain to Scandinavia, excluding England. 

In Italy, it is found up to Umbria, at altitudes ranging from 0 to 1500 meters.