- Acer campestre
- Europe, North Africa
Genus
Acer is the Latin generic name for the maple tree.
However, the word also means sharp or pointed. This can refer, for example, to the leaf shape of the pointed maple or mountain maple. In the past, maple wood was also used to make spears.
There are around 150 species of the maple genus worldwide - from small shrubs to large trees.
Maples are deciduous trees or shrubs. As a tree, the maple is a stately avenue and park tree with the greatest height of approx. 30 meters; largest species: sycamore, Norway maple, silver maple, native to Europe, West Asia, Canada.
Maples have a wide variety of leaf shapes from lobed, palmate to feathery filigree, brilliant autumn colors (Indian summer) and are - also with their bark markings - picturesque design elements in landscapes, parks and ornamental gardens.
The Graubünden sycamore was the most important symbol of state and freedom in Switzerland
Information on the species
Acer campestre
Small tree up to 25 meters high and 15 meters wide; it is a woody species, therefore usually multi-stemmed with strong trunk shoots
Leaves: three to five-lobed, bright golden-yellow autumn coloring
Flowers: small green-white panicles
Fruits: two single-seeded split fruits, winged; helicopter model in bionics, wings as nose attachment for children, up to 2.5 centimetres long
Bark: gray-cracked, cork ridges form on young branches
Occurrence: in mixed forests up to 1,000 meters above sea level and alluvial forests, in hedgerow bends (= "living fences" - ecosystems created in the cultural landscape), field copses with a rounded crown mantle
Medicine: Used in the Middle Ages and by St. Hildegard von Bingen as a remedy for swollen joints, inflamed eyes and burning feet
History: Pliny Secundus (23 to 79 AD) (probably) described the French Maßholder (field maple). It was used for pile dwellings and foundation piles for huts.