''Acer circinatum'', or vine maple, is a species of

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

native to northwestern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Vine maple typically grows as a low-elevation coastal tree in temperate areas of high precipitation such as the west coast of Oregon and

northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

, as well as the

temperate rainforest Temperate rainforests are rainforests with coniferous or Broad-leaved tree, broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rainforests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate ...

s of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. Vine maples play an important role in conserving the

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

of lowland ecosystems by enriching upper

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

layers and providing habitat for other organisms.

Description

''Acer circinatum'' grows as a many-stemmed shrub-like tree. It most commonly reaches a height between , but can occasionally reach . It commonly grows as a spray of slender stems from , but in more tree-like specimens the trunk can reach . Shoots are slender with smooth, hairless bark.Plants of British Columbia
''Acer circinatum''
Jepson Flora
''Acer circinatum''
/ref> Vine maple leaves are coarsely toothed and in length. They are palmately lobed with 7–11 lobes, the lobe-points forming a nearly circular pattern. In the autumn, the leaves turn bright yellow to orange red. Vine maples produce single flowers (a single flower is a flower that produces one fruit) that are in diameter, with dark red sepals and 5 yellow petals. The fruit, a two-seeded winged samara, is adapted for wind-dispersal. Each wing is 2–4 cm in length, and holds a seed approximately in diameter. Vine maple trees can grow by cloning, which happens when a new shoot develops from a root or branch of the tree. Occasionally, flexible vine maple branches will bend over and grow into the ground to form natural arch. This cloning characteristic, known as

layering Layering can refer to: * Layering (horticulture), a means of vegetative propagation * Layering (finance), a strategy in high frequency trading * Layering (linguistics), a principle by which grammaticalisation can be detected * Surface layering ...

, allows vine maple stands to grow quickly, and makes vine maple a good contender for

secondary succession Secondary succession is the secondary ecological succession of a plant's life. As opposed to the first, primary succession, secondary succession is a process started by an event (e.g. forest fire, harvesting, hurricane, etc.) that reduces an a ...

after a woodland overstorey (canopy) disturbance.

Taxonomy

''Acer circinatum'' is part of the ''Palmatum'' group of maple native to

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

and

with its closest relatives being '' Acer japonicum'' (fullmoon maple) and '' Acer pseudosieboldianum'' (Korean maple).

Distribution and habitat

''Acer circinatum'' can be found from southwest

to northern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, usually within of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, specifically along the Columbia Gorge and throughout coastal forests. It is found no further inland than the east side of the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...

. ''Acer circinatum'' is most often found growing interspersed within conifer forests of Douglas fir (''

Pseudotsuga menziesii The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native plant, native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Dougl ...

''), Hemlock (''

Tsuga heterophylla ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of Tsuga, hemlock native to the northwest coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in nort ...

''), and Cedar (''

Thuja plicata ''Thuja plicata'' is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the family Cupressaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Its common name is western redcedar in the U.S. or western red cedar in the UK, and it is also called pacific re ...

'').'''' Vine maples are also known to occasionally establish small colonial gaps within conifer forests, where they proliferate after an overstorey disturbance (such as the death of a large tree), and are able to maintain the gap by preventing the re-establishment of larger trees.Ogden, A. E. (1996). Soil characteristics of persistent canopy openings occupied by vine maple in a coastal western hemlock forest.

Ecology

Various birds, such as nuthatches, chickadees, grosbeaks, warblers, waxwings, vireos, and woodpeckers eat the seeds of this species, as well as mammals such as squirrels and chipmunks.

Deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

and

elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

also browse the foliage, and

beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

s will eat the bark of young specimens. Vine maples also host a variety of

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

s (non parasitic organisms that grow on other organisms) such as mosses and lichens. Though small compared to the conifer forests they inhabit, vine maples are a good contender for forest resources. Due to the speed at which they grow and spread, vine maples are able to establish and maintain dominance in natural forest clearings and quickly colonize new openings in the canopy caused by tree mortality. Vine maples are an important member of the forest ecosystems of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

because they cycle nutrients more quickly than conifers do, and therefore create thinner, more nutrient-rich forest floor layers that promote

. Vine maples drop more leaf litter than

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

s, and their leaves decompose faster, leading to higher concentrations of N, P Ca, Mg, K, Fe, and Zn near the surface of the forest floor.

History

''Acer circinatum'' likely entered western North America in the mid

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58

Cultivation

It is occasionally cultivated outside its native range as an

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

, from

Juneau, Alaska Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Southeast Alaska, Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the ...

, and

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, to

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

,University of Alabama, Huntsville
Oregon Vine Maple at UAH Arboretum
and also in northwestern

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins .

Uses

The

Quinault people The Quinault ( or , kʷínayɬ) are a group of Native American peoples from western Washington in the United States. They are a Southwestern Coast Salish people and are enrolled in the federally recognized Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reser ...

used the shoots to weave baskets.

Gallery

Drop the Charges.jpg, Vine Maple bonsai Acer circinatum 03684.JPG, Flower with reddish calyx and five short petals Acer circinatum 9468.JPG, The fruit is borne in pairs. With wings nearly 180 degrees apart, it is initially green, later becoming reddish (shown) to brown. 2015-10-30 16 27 33 Vine Maple foliage during autumn along Old Brockway Road in Truckee, California.jpg, Autumn foliage of Acer circinatum

References

External links

* {{Authority control circinatum Flora of the West Coast of the United States Trees of Northern America Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Garden plants of North America Plants used in bonsai Ornamental trees Plants described in 1813