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Acer opalus subsp. obtusatum
Also called Neapolitan maple
Bosnian maple is a small to medium deciduous tree or large shrub native to southern Europe and the western Balkans, grown for its rounded form, spring flowers and autumn colour. It does best in full sun on well drained, alkaline soil, and it tolerates drought once established.
Bosnian maple (Acer opalus subsp. obtusatum), also known as Balkan maple, is a subspecies of Acer opalus in the soapberry family Sapindaceae. It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree native to the mountains and hills of south central and southeastern Europe and parts of North Africa, where it grows mainly on limestone slopes and in mixed broadleaf woodland.
The common name “Bosnian maple” refers both to this taxon and, in the timber trade, to high quality maple wood from the western Balkans used in string instrument making, which usually derives from the related species Acer pseudoplatanus (sycamore maple).
Bosnian maple is cultivated as an ornamental tree in arboreta and gardens, especially in Europe and North America. It is valued for its rounded habit, tolerance of calcium rich soils and drought once established, and its showy spring flowers and autumn color. The Royal Horticultural Society lists the subspecies as hardy in much of the United Kingdom (RHS hardiness rating H6), roughly equivalent to USDA hardiness zones 5–6.
Nursery descriptions characterize the tree as a rounded medium-sized maple suited to parks and larger gardens, performing well in full sun on well drained, preferably alkaline soils and exhibiting good drought tolerance, a trait sometimes cited in the context of climate-change-resilient planting. It is represented in collections such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Yorkshire Arboretum, Arboretum Wespelaar and arboreta in North America.
Bosnian maple is native to south central Europe and the western Balkans, with its range extending from Hungary and northern Italy southwards through the Apennines and the Dinaric mountains into Greece and adjacent parts of the central Mediterranean, and disjunct populations in Algeria. National and regional floras record it from countries including Italy, France, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia.
Field Maple · Kyushu Maple · Cappadocian maple · Vine maple · Père David's maple · Horned maple · Acer tataricum subsp. ginnala · Paperbark maple · Fullmoon Maple · Lobel's Maple · Bigleaf Maple · Montpellier Maple
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Bosnian maple 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.
