Acer glabrum

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids II
Ordo: Sapindales

Familia: Sapindaceae
Subfamilia: Hippocastanoideae
Tribus: Acereae
Genus: Acer
Section: Acer sect. Glabra
Species: Acer glabrum
Varietates: A. g. var. diffusum – A. g. var. douglasii – A. g. var. glabrum – A. g. var. torreyi
Name

Acer glabrum Torr., Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 2: 172 (1827).
References
Additional references

Murray, A.E., 1970. A monograph of the Aceraceae. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University. Reference page.
Gelderen, D.M. van, Jong, P.C.de & Oterdoom, H.J. 1994. Maples of the world. Timber Press, Portland, Or., 458 pp. ISBN 0-88192-000-2. Reference page.
Govaerts, R.H.A. 1995. World Checklist of Seed Plants 1(1, 2). 483, 529 pp. MIM, Deurne. ISBN 90-341-0852-X (issue 1) ISBN 90-341-0853-8 (issue 2). Reference page.
Allred, K. W. 2012. Flora Neomexicana. The vascular plants of New Mexico. Vol. 1: An annotated checklist to the names of vascular plants, with synonymy and bibliography. Ed. 2. 613 pp. Range Science Herbarium, Las Cruces, New Mexico. Reference page.
Ackerfield, J. 2015. Flora of Colorado. 818 pp. BRIT Press, Fort Worth, Tx. ISBN 978-1-889878-45-4. Reference page.
De Langhe, J. & Crowley, D. 2017. Acer and Dipteronia: vegetative key to species in cultivation. Ghent University Botanical Garden: 222 p., pdf. Reference page.

Links

Barstow, M., Crowley, D. & Rivers, M.C. 2018. Acer glabrum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018. IUCN Red List Category: Least Concern. DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T193546A125923759.en.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Acer glabrum in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 08-Apr-12.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Acer glabrum in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 January 10. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Acer glabrum. Published online. Accessed: 10 January 2020.

Vernacular names
English: Rocky Mountain maple
français: Érable nain

Acer glabrum is a species of maple native to western North America, from southeastern Alaska, British Columbia and western Alberta, east to western Nebraska, and south through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Colorado to California, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico.[2]

Description

Acer glabrum is a small tree growing to 6–9 metres (20–30 feet) tall, exceptionally 12 m (39 ft), with a trunk around 13 centimetres (5 inches) in diameter, exceptionally around 25 cm (10 in).[3] The leaves are 2–13 cm (3⁄4–5 in) broad, three-lobed (rarely five-lobed),[3] variable in the depth of lobing, occasionally so deeply lobed as to be divided into three leaflets; the lobes have an acute apex and a coarsely serrated margin. The flowers are produced in corymbs of five to ten, yellowish-green, at the same time as the new leaves in spring. The fruit is a samara or winged seed, which develops in fused pairs at an angle of less than 45° when mature, though some varieties spread out to 90°.[3][4][5]
Varieties

There are four to six varieties, some of them treated by some authors at the higher rank of subspecies:[2][5][6]

Acer glabrum var. glabrum (syn. subsp. glabrum; Rocky Mountain maple)– Rocky Mountains, Montana to New Mexico
Acer glabrum var. diffusum (Greene) Smiley (syn. subsp. diffusum (Greene) A.E.Murray; Rocky Mountain maple) – eastern California, Nevada, Utah
Acer glabrum var. douglasii (Hook.) Dippel (syn. subsp. douglasii (Hook.) Wesm.; Douglas maple) – Alaska south to Washington and Idaho
Acer glabrum var. greenei Keller (Greene's maple) – endemic-central California
Acer glabrum var. neomexicanum (Greene) Kearney & Peebles (syn. subsp. neomexicanum (Greene) A.E.Murray; New Mexico maple) – New Mexico
Acer glabrum var. torreyi (Greene) Smiley (syn. subsp. torreyi (Greene) A.E.Murray; Torrey maple) – endemic-Northern California

Distribution and habitat

Acer glabrum is plentiful in many parts of the Rocky Mountains, often growing with ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, and quaking aspen.[7] It can be found in dry rocky areas.[3]
Ecology

It tends to be found in brush fields arising from fire-disturbed sites. Conifers tend to replace it in well-forested areas.[3] The foliage is browsed by game animals (especially deer and elk in winter), cattle, and sheep.[3][8]
Uses

Native Americans utilized the strong stems for snowshoe frames, bows, and other applications.[3] Some Plateau Indian tribes drink an infusion of Douglas maple as a treatment for diarrhea.[9] Ramah Navajo use an infusion of the glabrum variety for swellings, and also as a "life medicine", or panacea.[10][11]
References

Barstow, M.; Crowley, D.; Rivers, M.C. (2018). "Acer glabrum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T193546A125923759. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T193546A125923759.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
"Acer glabrum". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 18 December 2017.
Arno, Stephen F.; Hammerly, Ramona P. (2020) [1977]. Northwest Trees: Identifying & Understanding the Region's Native Trees (field guide ed.). Seattle: Mountaineers Books. pp. 257–258. ISBN 1-68051-329-X. OCLC 1141235469.
Plants of British Columbia: Acer glabrum
Jepson Flora Project: Acer glabrum var. diffusum, var. greenei, var. torreyi
USDA Plants Profile: Acer glabrum
USDA Forestry Service, Fire Effects Information: Acer glabrum
Whitney, Stephen (1985). Western Forests (The Audubon Society Nature Guides). New York: Knopf. p. 394. ISBN 0-394-73127-1.
Hunn, Eugene S. (1990). Nch'i-Wana, "The Big River": Mid-Columbia Indians and Their Land. University of Washington Press. p. 351. ISBN 0-295-97119-3.
Vestal, Paul A. 1952 The Ethnobotany of the Ramah Navaho. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology 40(4):1-94 (p. 36)

"BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database".

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Further reading
Justice, DE; Reid, AR; Bohm, BA (1995). "Vacuolar flavonoids of rocky mountain maple, Acer glabrum torrey (Aceraceae)". Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. 23 (3): 263–265. doi:10.1016/0305-1978(95)00014-L.