PlantFiles: Bigleaf Maple, Broadleaf Maple, Oregon Maple
Acer macrophyllum

This Pacific Northwest native is a fast growing maple species that has a variable overall shape depending on growth conditions.

In open sunny areas they frequently have fairly symmetrical rounded canopies while those growing in shadier forest openings can be extraordinarily tall and narrow. In either case these are trees that eventually reach a very large size and the limbs of this species can reach out for incredible lengths.

As the botanical and common name suggest, the Big Leaf Maple has incredibly large leaves in a classic maple shape. The leaves turn a bright yellow in the fall and make an excellent mulch for covering garden beds for the winter though because of their size the leaves need to either be shredded first or removed in the spring since they are large enough to mat together and suffocate young plants.

The flowers of these trees are bright yellow and usually appear in enough quantity to put on a lovely pre-spring show. These trees are quite prolific and can produce a large quantity of seeds. It's not unusual to see young trees growing in clumps together and eventually growing into each other to form a giant merged tree.

Though tolerant of a variety of different conditions, this species of maple naturally keeps fairly tight to the Pacific Coast and may not be as hardy or grow as vigorously in other areas.

Acer macrophyllum BIGLEAF MAPLE Dec (z6) (WNa,syrup)
"There [couldn't] be a finer shade tree" than this large spreading native for its leaves (up to 1'across!) act "like lattices, letting light through but not heat"(Peattie); a "sugaring"maple with fine yellow fc.S-PSh/Med-W