Norway Maple Acer platanoides LinnaeusNon-native  -  Invasive    
Kingdom Plantae   >   Division Tracheophyta   >   Class Magnoliopsida   >   Order Sapindales   >   Family Sapindaceae   >   Genus Acer   

Status:

Introduced from Europe as an ornamental, Norway Maple has been much planted as a lawn or street tree and has now become widely established and invasive over much of the Northeast, including Maryland. Many ornamental varieties have been developed and planted.

Description:

A handy trick to differentiate Norway Maple from other maple species is to remove a leaf by the base of its stem and look for white sap, at least early in the growing season. Norway Maple can often be distinguished from other maples because its leaves are wider than long, whereas other maples have leaves that are mostly longer than wide. The flowers are bright yellow-green and are borne in erect clusters in early spring, before the trees leaf out. The fruits (samaras) of Norway Maple are large (1-3/4 inches) and widely spreading. They ripen in summer, but fruit and fruit stalks often persist into winter (Sibley, 2009). The leaves typically turn yellow in fall.

Relationships:

Host to Norway Maple Seedminer (also non-native).

There are 209 records in the project database.

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Norway Maple photo montage from Howard Co., Maryland (4/15/2010). Photo by Bill Harms. (MBP list)

A young Norway Maple at Fort Smallwood, Maryland (5/4/2013). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

Norway Maple growing in Kent Co., Maryland (4/30/2016). Photo by Nancy Martin. (MBP list)

Norway Maple leaves in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/14/2012). Photo by Bill Harms. (MBP list)

Norway Maple in Montgomery Co., Maryland (4/23/2017). Photo by Bill Hill. (MBP list)

A Norway Maple in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/14/2012). Photo by Bill Harms. (MBP list)

Norway Maple in Baltimore Co., Maryland (5/19/2017). Photo by Bill Harms. (MBP list)

Norway Maple in Caroline Co., Maryland (4/8/2017). Photo by Wayne Longbottom. (MBP list)

Norway Maple flowering in Baltimore Co., Maryland (5/3/2018). Photo by Matthew Beziat. (MBP list)

The trunk of a Norway Maple in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/14/2012). Photo by Bill Harms. (MBP list)

Norway Maple in Washington Co., Maryland (5/27/2017). Photo by Bill Harms. (MBP list)

Norway Maple in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/24/2017). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

Norway Maple in Baltimore Co., Maryland (5/20/2018). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

Norway Maple leaves in Howard Co., Maryland (11/23/2019). Photo by Matthew Beziat. (MBP list)

Norway Maple in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (11/21/2017). Photo by Matthew Beziat. (MBP list)

Norway Maple in Montgomery Co., Maryland (11/30/2019). (c) Katja Schulz, some rights reserved (CC BY). Photo by Katja Schulz via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Norway Maple growing in Frederick Co., Maryland (6/2/2017). Photo by Mark Etheridge. (MBP list)

Norway Maple in Frederick Co., Maryland (5/27/2017). Photo by Bill Harms. (MBP list)

Norway Maple growing in Washington Co., Maryland (6/25/2017). Photo by Mark Etheridge. (MBP list)

Norway Maple in Baltimore City, Maryland (4/20/2019). (c) mwhite97, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by mwhite97 via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Norway Maple in Howard Co., Maryland (4/26/2019). No rights reserved. Photo by Maura via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Norway Maple leaves in Highland Park, New Jersey (11/11/2012). Photo by John Beetham. (MBP list)


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Use of images featured on Maryland Biodiversity Project is only permitted with express permission of the photographer.

MBP marks as "Invasive" any taxon listed in the Maryland Invasive Species Council (MISC) list of Invasive Species of Concern in Maryland. You can read their criteria and review the lists here: https://mdinvasives.org/species-of-concern/.