Acer platanoides Paldiski - Norway Maple

Acer platanoides 'Paldiski' is a very special variety of the Norway maple, rare in cultivation and highly ornamental. Its deeply lobed green leaves are long, narrow and trailing. They turn a yellow-orange hue in autumn. This relatively modest sized tree has a fairly rapid growth and develops an upright habit with an oval crown. The tree thrives in moderately fertile and well-drained soils and appreciates a sunny exposure.

Native to the Caucasus, widespread in Europe, from Scandinavia to Spain and eastward to Russia, Acer platanoides is a large deciduous tree with rapid growth, often associated with oak, lime, and elm in upland forests. It can live up to 200 years. The 'Paldiski' cultivar was discovered by dendrologists Olev Abner and Jüri Elliku in 1995 on the side of a road in Paldiski. It has been suggested that it could also be a narrow and amplified form of 'Laciniatum'. At maturity, this single-trunk tree reaches a height of 10 to 15 m with a spread of 6 to 8 m. It has a fairly rapid growth while maintaining a dense crown. Its foliage is deciduous. The very specific leaves of this cultivar are opposite, palmate and deeply incised with long, thread-like lobes. They measure 10 to 15 cm and can even reach 25 cm in the best cases, showing 5 very sharp, toothed lobes. The individual lobes descend to the base of the leaf and have distinctive serrations. The leaf margin is wavy. The leaves are a fresh green and turn golden before autumn. The inconspicuous flowering in the form of upright corymbs of tiny yellow-green flowers, occurs before bud burst in March, on subjects aged 15 to 20 years. It gives way, in June, to winged fruits measuring 3 to 5 cm called samaras. The bark of this tree is brown, almost smooth and marked with numerous shallow longitudinal crevices.

Acer platanoides 'Paldiski' is an easy-to-grow tree, magnificent when isolated in the middle of a park, for example. It stands out in gardens and parks, either as a solitary specimen or in combination with other plants. It can be associated in a grove with its purple-leaved counterpart, the Crimson King Norway maple, purple beech, or Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy', for example. It tolerates ordinary soil, provided it is deep and well-drained. It is sensitive to stagnant moisture.