| Plant of the Month - March, 2005 |
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by Alan Craig
Acer triflorum When one thinks of trees to use for winter interest in the landscape, conifers, or evergreens, are what usually come to mind. But what about deciduous trees? Some have beautiful bark that can brighten up a winter day. Paper birch, river birch and aspen are obvious examples. But that is about it, right? Wrong! Would you believe that there are several maple species that have beautiful bark? It's true, and you probably thought that maples were only for shade and fall color. The maple that is our 'Plant of the Month' is Three-flower Maple (Acer triflorum). This exquisite small tree is named for the flowers, which come in clusters of three. Three seems to be this tree's favorite number, as the leaves also come in a compound form with three leaflets. Three-flower Maple belongs to a group of trifoliate (meaning three leaflets to each leaf) maples. These leaves look similar to typical maple leaves except that the three major lobes of each leaf are dissected all the way to the central vein, hence they have three leaflets. Other maples in this group include Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum), Manchurian Maple (Acer mandshuricum), and Nikko Maple (Acer maximowiczianum).
Other ornamental attributes of Three-flower Maple are the various colors of the leaves throughout the growing season. The leaves emerge early in the spring and are a light, bright green. The leaves become a darker green during the summer. Then in the fall, they turn rich shades of yellow, orange, and red. In my experience, orange is the predominant fall foliage color.
Three-flower Maple is an excellent small tree to use where space is limited, as it reaches only about 25 feet in height, and about 20 to 25 feet in width. It's habit is rounded to oval in full sun, and a bit more upright in shadier situations.
Hardiness is listed by several sources as Zone 5, but it actually appears to be hardy to Zone 4, as it performs very well in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Three-flower Maple also has no serious pest problems. It prefers moist but well drained soil, and it will tolerate some shade.
Propagation of Three-flower Maple can be difficult, and therefore it is not very common in the nursery trade. But if you put in the extra effort to locate and obtain one, you will be rewarded, more and more every year, with a tree of refined beauty.
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There is a gorgeous specimen of Three-flower Maple at the Bickelhaupt Arboretum, which was donated in 1983 by Dr. Ed Hasselkus. It is located near the western edge of the Arboretum near the Hosta National Display Garden. If you have an opportunity to view this special tree, you will be struck by the beauty of the bark, especially if viewed in the winter. Small stems show a minor amount of exfoliation (peeling of bark), but larger stems and the trunk display a pattern of exfoliation in vertically peeling scales. The color of the bark is hard to put in words, but could be described as tannish to a golden honey color.