Chalk Maple

Acer leucoderme

Chalk Maple  

The Chalk Maple is considered a smaller version of the Sugar Maple, only growing to an average height of 20-30 feet. Though its main use is ornamental, boasting brilliant fall colors, this tree is also an early food source for native pollinators, making it a great addition to any pollinator garden. Its seeds also provide food for other wildlife including birds and small mammals. Both the common and scientific names for this native deciduous tree mean “white-skinned,” a nod to its bark which turns chalky white with age. 

The following identification information is from Trees of Alabama, a Gosse Nature Guide by Lisa J. Samuelson. Use of this text was permitted by the University of Alabama. Order your own copy of this great guide to Alabama’s trees here: https://www.amazon.com/Trees-Alabama-Gosse-Nature-Guides/dp/0817359419

Chalk Maple Acer leucoderme Small  

COMMON NAMES chalk maple, white-bark maple  

QUICK GUIDE Leaves opposite, simple, palmately three- to five-lobed with attenuated apices, underside green with or without pubescence; fruit a double samara with widely divergent wings; bark scaly with a chalky white surf ace on large trees.  

DESCRIPTION Leaves are opposite, simple, deciduous, and nearly round, with three to five (usually three) palmate lobes; blade is 3-9 cm (1.2-3.5 in) long; apices are attenuated; margin is not serrate; underside is green and often pubescent; autumn color is red, orange, or yellow. Twigs are red-brown and glabrous, with lenticels; leaf scar is V-shaped with three bundle scars. The terminal bud is ovoid and about 3 mm (0.1 in) long; scales are overlapping, red-brown, and pubescent. Flowers are polygamous; staminate and pistillate flowers are in long, dangling, green-yellow or yellow clusters before or with the leaves. Fruit is a green to brown double samara; wings are up to 3 cm (1.2 in) long and form a 120-degree angle; fruit matures in the summer. Bark is brown-gray and smooth on small trees; on large trees bark is chalky white (usually from lichens) and flaky, and it is dark at the base. The growth form is usually an understory tree but sometimes grows up to 18 m (60 ft).  

HABITAT Fertile, moist soils and well-drained bottomlands.  

NOTES When ranges overlap, forest associates of chalk maple are similar to that of Florida maple and include red maple, American beech, green ash, sweetgum, tulip-poplar, white oak, northern red oak, and eastern hemlock. The wood is of limited economic importance but is sometimes used for pulpwood, veneer, furniture, and flooring. The foliage is a browse for white-tailed deer, and the seed is eaten by birds and small to midsize mammals.  

Acer is Latin for “maple tree” and refers to the hardness of the wood; leucoderme means “white skin” and refers to the bark.