North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Acer floridanum

Acer floridanum (Chapm.) Pax

southern sugar maple, florida maple

Image ID: 3963
Image by: Hardin, J.W.
Image Collection: Herbarium Collection

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: ACFL
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Acer floridanum
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2019-11-29

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: ACER
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Acer
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Maple
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 111-126 species, trees and shrubs, primarily north temperate.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Murray (1970)=Z; van Gelderen, de Jong, and Oterdoom (1994); Acevedo-Rodr�guez, van Welzen, Adema, and van der Ham in Kubitzki (2011).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: ACERAC
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Aceraceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Maple Family
FAMILY SUMMARY:
FAMILY REFERENCE:

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: A small to medium-sized, deciduous tree usually ranging from 15–25 m. (50–80 ft.) tall when mature. Bark is light gray and smooth on younger trees, becoming ridged and furrowed with age. Leaves are opposite and shallowly to deeply palmately lobed, with a few blunt teeth but no serrations. The leaf sinuses are rounded, unlike those of red maple (Acer rubrum) which are sharply V-shaped. Also, the sides of terminal leaf lobes are more or less parallel, while those of red maple are widest at the base, tapering to the tip. The leaf tips of southern sugar maple often droop. Fruits consist of two, winged samaras that split apart when mature, sometimes traveling long distances on the breeze as they spin to the ground. Southern sugar maple can be difficult to distinguish from its more northern relative, sugar maple (Acer saccharum), which is commonly planted in the North Carolina Piedmont. The leaves of southern sugar maple are usually somewhat smaller though, and the lower leaf surfaces typically hairy, while the larger leaves of sugar maple mostly lack hairs, or bear them only on the veins.
STEMS: Pith continuous. Young twigs (1-year-old or less) gray or green or reddish-brown or tan, 1–2 mm wide, glabrous or pubescent, pilose. Twigs (2–4 years old) glabrous. Leaf scars U-shaped or V-shaped, bundle scars 3 per leaf scar, stipule scars absent. Bark of mature trunks furrowed or ridged or smooth. Buds axillary or terminal, brown or reddish-brown, (2–)3(–4) mm long, conic, blunt or sharp, pubescent, pilose, bud scales imbricate.
LEAVES: Leaves deciduous, simple, petiolate, opposite or decussate, (3–)4–8(–9.5) cm long, (3.5–)4–8(–11) cm wide, orbiculate or ovate, leaf margins dentate, shallowly lobed or moderately lobed or deeply lobed, palmately lobed, leaf lobes 3–5 per leaf, leaf apices acuminate or acute or obtuse, leaf bases cordate or obtuse or rounded. Leaf upper surface green, glabrous or glabrate. Leaf lower surface gray or green or silver, glabrate or pubescent, hirsute or pilose. Leaf venation palmate. Petioles (2–)4–8 cm long, glabrous or glabrate or pubescent, pilose. Stipules present or absent, caducous.
INFLORESCENCE: Inflorescences terminal, corymbs or simple umbels, flowers stalked.
FLOWERS: Flowers bisexual or unisexual or pistillate or staminate. Perianth. Calyx radially symmetric, synsepalous. Sepals (4–)5(–12) per flower, calyx tubes 1.5–2.5(–4) mm long, green or red or yellow or yellow-green, sepal margins ciliate, sepal apices obtuse, pubescent, hirsute, persistent. Corolla absent. Androecium. Stamens 7–8 per flower, separate, anthers 1–1.5 mm long. Gynoecium. Ovaries superior, pistils 1 per flower. Gynoecium syncarpous, 2 carpels per flower, styles 2 per pistil, styles 1–2.5 mm long, stigmas 1.5–5 mm long, placentation axile. Other floral features. Hypanthia present.
FRUITS: Fruits mericarps or samaras or schizocarps, (1.5–)2–2.5(–3) cm long, green or tan, fruit maturation 1 years.
COMMENTS: Habitat bottomland forests or dry-mesic upland forests or mesic upland forests or mixed forest edges or suburban plantings. Sides of terminal leaf lobes are more or less parallel; leaf sinuses are rounded; tips of leaf lobes often droop.
HEIGHT: 50–80 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Tree

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Opposite
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION: Deciduous

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Flowering March or April or May.

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR:

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
				x	x

FRUITING PERIOD: Jun-Oct.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands
NATIVE RANGE: southeastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Southern sugar maple is similar to northern sugar maple (Acer saccharum), which occurs in the mountains in North Carolina, but southern sugar maple is generally of smaller stature and is more heat-tolerant than its more northern counterpart. It occurs in rich bottomland forests and mesic woodlands throughout the southeastern United States. The fall foliage of southern sugar maple is a lovely yellow to orange color.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 7
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bird Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
374	2011-0247	2011-11-29	378	View
3686	1991-0381			View
4543	1992-0699			View
5046	1995-0165			View
5424	1995-0547			View
5884	1995-1012			View
8763	2007-0032	2007-03-27		View
9315	2020-0031	2021-01-11	2086	View

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
378	HORT		Liloia	View
2086	HORT	2015-10-30	Gocke	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
905	374	43	NCBG staff	2011-00-00	View
5989	3686	199	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
6872	4543	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
7465	5046	203	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
7938	5424	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View
8399	5884	2	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
12009	8763	71	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
12452	9315	176	Neal	2020-11-20	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: ACFL
USDA Common Name:
Native Status:
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, KY, LA, MO, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA)
Duration:
Growth Habit:

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Acer floridanum
COMMON NAME: Southern Sugar Maple, Florida Maple
SYNONYMY: [= Va; = A. saccharum ssp. floridanum (Chapman) Desmarais - RAB, WH3, Z; = Acer barbatum Michaux - C, Il, K; > A. barbatum var. barbatum - F, G; > A. barbatum var. longii (Fernald) Fernald - F, G; = Saccharodendron floridanum (Chapman) Nieuwland - S]
PHENOLOGY: Apr-May; Jun-Oct.
HABITAT: Bottomland forests, mesic slopes, especially common over mafic or calcareous rocks, but not at all limited to such situations.
COMMENTS: S. VA, w. KY, se. MO, e. OK, c. OK, and n. TX, south to c. peninsular FL and e. TX. It is widely planted in southern cities and towns as a street tree. Ward (2004b) discusses the reasons for accepting A. floridanum as the correct name for this species; the Michauxian name A. barbatum is associated with specimens that are demonstrably A. saccharum.
RANGE MAP: Acer floridanum.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Aceraceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Maple Family)
SUMMARY:
REFERENCE:

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Acer L. (Maple)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 111-126 species, trees and shrubs, primarily north temperate.
REFERENCE: Murray (1970)=Z; van Gelderen, de Jong, and Oterdoom (1994); Acevedo-Rodr�guez, van Welzen, Adema, and van der Ham in Kubitzki (2011).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Acer floridanum in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Acer floridanum in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Acer floridanum in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Acer floridanum in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Acer floridanum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Acer floridanum

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 3963 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 3963 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 9789 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 3963 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)