![]() Basal sprouts stimulated by cutting or burning can dominate other vegetation in the new stand. The abundance of bigleaf maple also increases after disturbance in stands with an established maple component. On drier upland sites, bigleaf maple can replace oaks and Pacific madrone in the absence of significant disturbance. It can follow willow and alder in riparian succession. It also has the capacity to grow rapidly and maintain dominance under favorable conditions in the open sun.īigleaf maple increases in abundance during intermediate to late stages of succession. Maple in the understory can quickly respond to release when openings are created in the overstory. It is quite tolerant and commonly establishes in forest understories, where it can persist for long periods. Biology and Managementīigleaf maple occurs as a dominant, codominant, or intermediate tree in even- or uneven-aged stands. About 18 percent of the total hardwood volume in the Pacific Northwest is bigleaf maple. Maple is most abundant in the Puget Sound region of Washington and the Northwest region of Oregon. Substantial volumes of bigleaf maple occur in every subregion of the Northwest ( Appendix 1, Table 1). It usually grows from near the Pacific Ocean to a maximum of 186 miles inland. The root system of bigleaf maple is shallow and spreading on wet or shallow soils.īigleaf maple is native to the Pacific Northwest at low to middle elevations from San Diego to Vancouver Island (lat 33 to 51°N). ![]() ![]() Open-grown trees have broad, rounded crowns on short, branching boles. In forest stands, maples often develop clear (50 to 70 percent of total height), well-formed stems with narrow crowns. Height growth becomes negligible after 50 to 70 years. Bigleaf maple is moderately long-lived some individuals may reach 300 years of age. Mature bigleaf maple trees range from 50 to 100 ft in height ( 160 ft maximum) and 12 to 36 in. It is the only western maple that reaches commercial size, yet its potential as a commercial species has not been fully recognized. Oregon State University, Forest Research Laboratory General Characteristicsīigleaf maple is second to red alder among native hardwood species in abundance and in commercial importance in the Pacific Northwest. This information was originally published in Hardwoods of the Pacific Northwest, S.S. Oregon Producers and Users of Bigleaf Maple.Oregon maple, large-leaf maple, broadleaf maple ![]()
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