Maple, Norway

This tree is one of the 150 trees initially included in the arboretum to coincide with the campus's 150th anniversary celebration.

Scientific Name:
Acer platanoides

Cultivar:

Native to:
Eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from France east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran

Mature Height and Width:
40-50 feet by 30-50 feet

Additional Notes:
Norway maple is a highly adaptable shade tree that is at risk of over-achieving itself out of a job.  The shade it casts is often so dense that it suppresses and kills grass growing under the crown.  The species is also so well adapted to urban conditions that it has become aggressively invasive, filling the understories of nearby urban parks and woodlands with seedlings that suppress native tree species regeneration and, in time, form a canopy of Norway maple where native trees once stood.