Acer monspessulanum

Acer monspessulanum, also known as the Montpellier Maple, is a species that blazes in autumn, often accompanied by the evergreen oak or the pubescent oak. It is a maple of modest stature and slow growth, more shrubby than bushy when young. It is recognised by its small, leathery, three-lobed leaves, which are fairly shiny green. This maple is very hardy and resistant to wind and thrives in full sun or partial shade, in well-drained soil, dry in summer and even rocky and limestone.

The Montpellier Maple belongs to the botanical family Sapindaceae (which has incorporated the former family of maples, Aceraceae). It is a deciduous species native to the Mediterranean region. When it grows with the field maple (Acer campestre) the two species hybridise very easily. This maple can live up to 150 years. Its hard wood is used in carpentry and by turners or as firewood.

Acer monspessulanum shows a variable habit and size depending on its habitat and growing conditions in a garden. On rocky and dry soils, it sometimes forms a large shrub with several trunks, sometimes a tree with dark bark and a wide and dense crown. Its highly branched canopy is initially upright, then it becomes rounded with age. With slow to medium growth it usually reaches 5 to 6 m high and 3 to 4 m wide. Some specimens can reach 15 m in rich and not too dry soil. The foliage of this maple is deciduous, appearing in spring and falling in autumn. Its leaves are opposite on the branches and have a leathery texture. They measure 5 to 6 cm in length and are carried by a long petiole. Each leaf has 3 entire lobes, a slightly shiny dark green on the upper side. In autumn, they take on shades of gold, orange, or coppery red.

The Montpellier Maple blooms in April or May, before or during leaf emergence. It is a monoecious species, meaning that there are separate male and female flowers on the same plant. They are greenish-yellow and grouped in small clusters or corymbs. The female flowers have a shorter and usually thicker petiole than the male flowers. The flowers are nectar-rich and pollination is carried out by bees and other pollinators. The fruits are winged samaras, pendulous and grouped in pairs.

In the garden, the Montpellier Maple can be used as a specimen or in a natural grove, especially with the holm oak, the smooth oak, and the flowering ash (Fraxinus ornus). It can also be associated, in a country hedge, with deciduous spindle trees (Euonymus alatus, E. europaeus 'Red Cascade'), the Flame Smokebush, hawthorns (Crataegus), and ornamental crabapples (Malus). In a garrigue garden, this maple can accompany phillyreas, the terebinth pistachio, laurustinus, the mastic tree, and the Italian buckthorn (Rhamnus alaternus).