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Vine maple
Acer circinatum
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 A deciduous shrub or small tree, sometimes reaching a height of 20 metres; it has a
short, crooked trunk, with twisted, spreading limbs and a low, irregularly shaped crown.
The trunk sometimes grows almost horizontally and may root if it touches the ground. Vine
maple can become a sprawling shrub that grows into dense thickets.
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Leaves
Leaves are almost circular, 6 to 11 centimetres in diameter, with 7 to 9
lobes; the lobes are triangular, with sharp single or double teeth; bright yellowish-green
on top, pale green and downy underneath, turning red or yellow in autumn. |
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Fruit
The fruit consists of winged seeds, 2 to 4 centimetres long, joined in
pairs and borne in a cluster; the wings of the seeds are spread widely. Bark
Thin and greenish, becoming reddish-brown; smooth, or sometimes with
shallow cracks. |
Where to find vine
maple
It is mostly restricted to southwestern British Columbia, particularly at
low to mid elevations. It occurs in a few places on southern Vancouver Island and in Wells
Gray Provincial Park.Habitat
Vine maple occurs most frequently on moist soils, rich in nitrogen,
particularly along the banks of streams and wet sites. It can live in the shade but also
occurs in openings in the forest. Vine maple and alder are often the first trees to
establish after landslides. Vine maple commonly occurs with bigleaf maple, Douglas-fir,
western hemlock, grand fir, and Pacific dogwood, and sword fern underneath. |
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Uses
The Coast Salish people used vine maple occasionally for bows and frames
for fishing nets. The lower Thompson people used the wood for making snowshoes and cradle
frames.On the coast, the aboriginal people boiled the bark of the roots to make a tea
for colds. They burned the wood to charcoal, mixed it with water, and drank it to combat
dysentery and polio. They always collected the bark and wood early in the morning from the
sunrise side of the tree. |
| On the coast, vine maple is a beautiful garden shrub that looks similar to
Japanese maple. Notes
The common name probably comes from the gnarled and crooked appearance of
the tree. |
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