DOUGLAS MAPLE
acer glabrum

• also known as Rocky Mountain Maple, Dwarf Maple
• 'acer' is the Latin word for a maple tree
• the leaves and fruit are hairless, perhaps leading to the word 'glabrum' which means "smooth"
• the old Welsh word 'mapwl' meaning a knob in the middle of anything, perhaps has led to the word 'maple'

UNIQUE FEATURES:

• trunk often separated into a number of small branches

LOCATION:

• everywhere in BC but the northern part and the Queen Charlotte Islands
• low to mid elevations
• well drained wet sites or dry ridges
• avalanche sites, south facing slopes, clearings and open forests

SIZE:

• shrub to small tree
• 1 to 7 metres in height

FRUIT:

• pair of winged seeds joined together in a 'V' shape
• tan, dry wings about 2.5 cm
• seeds are wrinkled and indented
• have winged seeds
• seeds are eaten by birds and small animals

LEAVES:

• 3 to 5 lobes, 7 to 10 cm wide
• maple-leaf shape, coursely toothed
• dark green on top, greyish-green underneath
• turns bright red-orange in fall
• smaller and more wrinkled than Bigleaf maple

BARK:

• thin, smooth, roughened on older trees
• dark, reddish on younger twigs becoming greyish with age

WOOD CHARACTERISTICS:

• tough, pliable

USES:

• modern - ornamental tree
• traditional - snowshoe frames, saddle frames, spoons, dipnet or fishing hoops, bows, rattles, masks, headdresses; inner bark: twine, rope, mats