Field maple (Acer campestre) is a deciduous tree native to Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, grown as a hardy ornamental or hedge tree. It is tolerant of a wide range of conditions and is easy to grow in temperate gardens.
Family
Sapindaceae (Soapberry & maple family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Shade
Water
Water young trees regularly during their first summers, then rely mostly on rainfall except in long dry spells.
Soil
Tolerates most soils, including chalky and alkaline ground; prefers well-drained loam.
Temperature
Fully hardy; tolerates winter cold well and handles hot summers in temperate climates.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Europe to Iran, N. Algeria
Climate
temperate
About
Acer campestre, known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. It has been widely planted, and is introduced outside its native range in Europe and areas of the US and Western Australia with suitable climate.
How to grow it
The field maple is widely grown as an ornamental tree in parks and large gardens. The wood is white, hard and strong, and used for furniture, flooring, wood turning and musical instruments, though the small size of the tree and its relatively slow growth make it an unimportant wood. It has an OPALS rating of 7.
It is locally naturalised in parts of the United States and more rarely in New Zealand.
Where it grows
The native range of field maple includes much of Europe, including Denmark, Poland and Belarus, England north to southern Scotland (where it is the only native maple), southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. In many areas, the original native range is obscured by widespread planting and introductions. In North America it is known as hedge maple and in Australia, it is sometimes called common maple. In Nottinghamshire, England, it was known locally as dog oak.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Acer campestre by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.