7 Types Of Maple Trees In Arkansas

Are you planning to plant some gorgeous Maple Trees in your Arkansas home? Maple Trees are popular trees to plant in home gardens due to their brilliant fall foliage, shade-providing crown, and beautiful samaras. Read on to discover which Maple Tree varieties you can plant in the Natural State!

Arkansas is blessed with a humid subtropical climate. It experiences warm and humid summers and mild winters that occasionally register freezing temperatures. Even though many Maple Tree species consider a cooler temperature than Arkansas, the state is still home to a wide variety of Maples, including the ever-popular Sugar Maple.

In fact, Maple is one of the most common trees growing in the Natural State. It is as widely grown as Oaks, Plums, Hawthorns, Pine, and Cherries in Arkansas. It is in part due to the diverse landscape of the state. Not only that, but it has the Ozark Plateau and the Ouachita Mountains in the west and north and rich, flat, river-laced agricultural lands in the east.

This landscape is diverse enough to enable a wide variety of Maple Trees to grow freely in the state of Arkansas. Some of these trees grow up to be more than 70 to 80 feet tall, while some others remain medium-sized at 30 to 40 feet tall. However, all the Maple varieties that you can grow in Arkansas are decked with a brilliant display of bold red, orange, and yellow-orange leaves.

The striking display of Maple Trees’ autumn foliage will surely boost the curbside appeal of your home. Moreover, a lot of these tall specimens, with their wide-spread crown and large leaves, are the ideal shade providers. On the other hand, the smaller, shrub-like varieties are also quite attractive and can be grown as part of a spaced-out hedge for a stunning view.

So, without wasting a second, let’s take a look at the types of Maple Trees in Arkansas:

1. Hard Maple (Acer Saccharum)

A brilliant lawn specimen, Hard Maple is a 40 to 80 feet tall, deciduous tree with a rounded, dense crown. It features large, medium green leaves that offer excellent fall foliage of yellow and orange hues. It produces two-winged samaras. Also known as Sugar Maple, this tree thrives in full dun to partial shade and fertile, well-drained, moist, slightly acidic soils.

2. Black Maple (Acer Nigrum)

Black Maple acer nigrum
Rob Routledge, Sault College, Bugwood.org Black Maple (acer nigrum)

Black Maple is a stately 60 to 80 feet tall Maple Tree with a dense, rounded crown. It has drooping, dark green leaves with downy undersides. The leaves turn yellow-brown in fall. This tree yields drooping clusters of greenish-yellow blossoms that bear winged samaras. Black Maple thrives in full sun to light shade and mineral-rich, moist, well-drained soils.

3. Bigleaf Maple (Acer Macrophyllum)

Bigleaf Maple acer macrophyllum
Joe Nicholson, Bugwood.org Bigleaf Maple (acer macrophyllum)

Bigleaf Maple is a deciduous, 40 to 75 feet tall tree with an oval to broad-rounded habitat. It has deeply lobed, large, medium or deep green leaves that turn yellow-orange to yellow in fall. Bigleaf Maple yields copious clusters of tiny, scented, greenish-yellow flowers. It thrives in moist, slightly acidic, well-drained soils and sunlit or partially shaded areas.

4. Box Elder Maple (Acer Negundo)

Box Elder Maple acer negundo
Public Domain Box Elder Maple acer negundo

Used as a standalone shade tree, Box Elder Maple is a 30 to 50 feet tall, fast-growing, suckering tree with an irregularly rounded crown. It has deciduous, odd-pinnate, compound leaves that turn yellow in fall. It yields greenish-yellow blossoms and two-winged samaras. This tree thrives in wet, free-draining soils and full sun.

5. Red Maple (Acer Rubrum)

Red-Maple-Acer-Rubrum
Red Maple (Acer Rubrum)

Red Maple is a 40 to 50 feet tall, deciduous tree with a rounded to oval crown. It is decorated with pointy-edged, red-tinged, medium or dark green leaves that turn rich or deep red in fall. Red Maple yields red flowers that give way to two-winged samaras. This cold-hardy specimen thrives in full sun and slightly acidic, well-drained, moist soils.

6. Silver Maple (Acer Saccharinum)

Silver Maple acer saccharinum
Darkone Silver Maple acer saccharinum

Silver Maple is a 50 to 80 feet tall, fast-growing, deciduous tree with an open, spreading, and rounded crown. It has clusters of greenish-yellow flowers that bear two-winged samaras. It also features large, deeply lobed, light green-hued leaves with silver undersides. This tree grows well in full sun to part shade and moist soils.

7. Striped Maple (Acer Pensylvanicum)

Striped Maple is a 15 to 25 feet tall, shrubby, understory tree with a rounded but uneven crown. It has a greenish bark and trunk, marked with distinctive white stripes that gave the tree its name. This Maple Tree features obovate, three-lobed, dark green leaves that develop a bright yellow hue in fall. Striped Maple yields clusters of small yellow flowers. It thrives in well-drained, moist, slightly acidic soils and part shade.