Description
Acer opalus – Italian Maple
Quality: 1/0 P 50-80
Short description: The Italian Maple is a rare native deciduous tree with special charm: even before the leaves emerge, bright yellow flower umbels open in March – an early and valuable magnet for bees. The rounded, lobed foliage glows in warm yellow and orange in autumn. With a growth height of 8–15 m, it remains manageable and is suitable as a specimen tree, for parks, or natural gardens.
Climatic characteristics & site conditions: The Italian Maple is naturally native to warm limestone areas and is therefore predestined for southern German locations such as the Swabian Alb, the Franconian Jura, or the Muschelkalk regions on the Upper Rhine. It tolerates heat and drought exceptionally well and meets the demands of increasingly dry summers in the region. It is not suitable for damp lowlands or waterlogged soils.
Advantages: Native and ecologically valuable, drought-tolerant and climate-resilient, early bee forage from March, beautiful autumn foliage, low maintenance, slow and shapely growth.
Disadvantages: Rare in the trade and correspondingly higher priced, not suitable for damp or waterlogged soils, loose crown provides little shade, hardly usable as a hedge or privacy screen.
