This tree was planted by a landscaper that said it was a October Glory (Acer rubrum). Since I knew little at the time, I believed it to be so. I became suspicious when the leaves turned yellow in the fall and started looking into various resources to identify the leaf. I have not had any luck so I am posing some photos for opinions. Thanks in advance.
It could still be 'October Glory'. Most grower's describe the fall color as red to yellow. http://www.naturehills.com/new/product/productdetails.aspx?proname=Red+Maple+-+October+Glory
Thanks but I have looked high and low and I can not find an 'October Glory' with leaves that aren't sharp at the points. Can this be a Acer campestre (Hedge Maple)? I am using this page: http://web.reed.edu/trees/TreePages/ACER.html as a reference for the leaves. Thanks!
It does look to be Acer campestre. For a nice comparison, see http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/a/acerid06.jpg. There are pictures of A. rubrum 'October Glory' in the forum entitled Maple Photo Gallery. Let us hope that the error was made in good faith and that the tree was bare when the landscaper planted it for you. Now the question is: what do you want to do about it? These trees have entirely different characters, and my guess is that A. campestre is not what you had in mind for your star tree.
Yes: hedge maple. Many are being planted on streets out here, you just got the wrong common item. http://woodyplants.nres.uiuc.edu/plant/acecaqe
English maple Common maple Field maple Hedge(row) maple Small leaved maple English cork maple have all been used for Acer campestre. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="hedge+maple"&btnG=Google+Search
Perhaps what Michael was getting at was that campestre means "of fields." Is there a different maple in Europe, which is commonly referred to as Hedge Maple? The most commonly used names in the U.S. for Acer campestre are Hedge Maple, Field Maple, and Common Maple. This maple is dense, and therefore good for hedging, but not so elegant as a specimen tree, in my opinion. An important note is that it is reported to be invasive in Ohio, not too far west of New Jersey. [FONT="]http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/map/acca1.htm[/FONT]. With time one can expect suckering and an army of seedlings.
Michael has been claiming various North American common names to be incorrect--as though there was such a thing as correct common names for trees--on the internet for years.
Although "Field maple" is most common in my experience, it is not unusual to hear campestre called "Hedge maple" in Europe and the UK. I just glanced at Hardy de Beaulieu and he lists all 3 of Laurie's names. There's a picture of a pretty hedge at Wakehurst, to boot. The pictures of the leaves with ruler looks a bit like monspessulanum, though the 3rd with the samaras and more indented leaves is pretty clearly campestre. I wonder if the other leaf is immature. -E
What I'm pointing out is that it is infernally rude to rename other people's trees for them. I don't go promoting "wellingtonia" as a good name for Sequoiadendron giganteum, I use the name that I know people in its native region prefer. It would be good if you could do the same.
