Common name: Caucasian Maple, Coliseum Maple, Cappadocian maple
Botanical name: Acer cappadocicum Family: Aceraceae (Maple family) Synonyms: Acer divergens, Acer laetum
Caucasian Maple is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 20-30 m tall
with a broad, rounded crown. Oppositely arranged leaves are palmately lobed
with 5-7 equal lobes, 6-15 cm across. The leaf stems bleed a milky latex
when broken. The flowers are borne in corymbs of 15-30. Flowers are tiny,
3-4 mm across, yellow-green with five petals. Fruit is a double samara with
two winged seeds, the seeds are disc-shaped, strongly flattened, 6-11 mm
across and 2-3 mm thick. The samara is reddish pink when young.
The wings are 2.5-3 cm long, widely spread,
approaching a 180° angle. The bark is greenish-grey, smooth in young trees,
becoming shallowly grooved in mature. Caucasian Maple is found from central
Turkey (ancient Cappadocia) east along the Caucasus, the Himalaya, to
southwestern China. Flowering: March-May.
| Photographed in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand. |
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