Norway maple
The Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) is a maple native to eastern and central Europe and southwest Asia, from France east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It is a deciduous tree to 20-30 m tall with a broad, rounded crown.
The leaves are opposite, palmately lobed with five lobes, 12-25 cm across. The leaf stems secrete a milky juice when broken.
The seeds or fruit of the Norway maple consist of the paired keys typical of the maple family. The seeds are 10-15 mm across, disc-shaped, rounded and strongly flattened. The wings are widely spread, approaching a 180-degree angle. It typically produces a large quantity of viable seeds, a factor which contributes to its invasive character.
The bark is gray. In mature trees, the bark is shallowly grooved. Unlike many other species of maple, mature trees do not tend to develop a shaggy bark.
Several cultivars have been selected, with distinctive leaf coloration such as the deep red of 'Crimson King' or variegated leaves of 'Emerald Queen'.
The wood of the Norway Maple is used for furniture, flooring and musical instruments. Stradivarius used Norway Maple for the backs of his noted violins.
It has been widely introduced into cultivation in other areas, including western Europe northwest of its native range and North America, as a street tree and for its many cultivars. It is favoured due to its tolerance of poor, compacted soils and urban pollution. As a result of these characteristics, in parts of North America the Norway maple is displacing native trees and is widely considered invasive (and has been classified as such by authoritative sources in New England, New York, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Wisconson, Minnesota, and other places). Ironically the Norway maple itself is threatened by the Asian long-horned beetle, which eats through the trunk of trees, often killing them.
