Our area hosts 3 species of native maples. All are easily identified with their 5-lobed leaves. Maples are often found in moist areas. The most noticeable of the 3 is the Bigleaf Maple with its large leaves, 8-12” long. Douglas Maples have 2”-5” long leaves and the Vine Maple
even smaller. Explorers called the latter, “Devil Wood” as it was difficult to walk through its ancient groves. Look for autumn color variations (like people with different hair color) among this area’s Vine Maples found along the path and across the water between Kiosks # 13 & #14. These are clones of specimens chosen for their unique colors. As posted before, after planting this magnificent collection of cloned colorful vine maples, we (the Gardens were built under demanding and precise wetland laws and permits) were asked to remove them. “Laws say nothing about ‘clones,’ but they do prohibit ‘cultivars.’ Targeting colors is cultivating.” In answer to several of your questions, the Gardens’ cloned “Vine Maple Clone Sources” are found in the URLs below; the result of Oregon based competitions where nursery personnel go into the hills in September, tag a spectacular autumn leafed vine maple, and come back in February to take cuttings. PLC’s sponsored WWU SAM Project’s extinction probability is slight for any of these maples.
http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Acer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_circinatum
https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=ACGL
https://www.plc215.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Kiosk-13.pdf
https://www.plc215.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/NW-Vine-Maple-Clone-Sources.pdf
https://burkeherbarium.org/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Acer%20macrophyllum
https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/biology/plants-and-fungi/collections-database/results.php?Genus=Acer
How many different types of maples might one find bordering Puget Sound?
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