Red maple

MFA Acc. #: 11.20540

Description

A deciduous maple tree, Acer rubrum, native to eastern North America that turns bright red in autumn. Red maple trees have hard, strong, fine-grain wood that is used for flooring and interior millwork. The bark and leaves from the red maple tree produce a dye that colors cotton and wool a cinnamon color with an alum mordant and a black color with an iron mordant.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Acer rubrum; rode esdoorn (Ned.); érable pourpre (Fr.); arce rojo (Esp.); acero rosso (It.); soft maple; water maple; scarlet flowering maple; swamp maple

Red maple Acer rubrum

Other Properties

Height = 20-35 m Flowers = small clusters of yellow-red slowers in early spring Fruit = clusters of small samara with divergent wings. Bark = grayish with fine platy scales

Density	33 ppcf

Additional Images

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  Red maple Acer rubrum

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  Red maple Acer rubrum

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  Soft Maple (Acer rubrum)

Sources Checked for Data in Record

• R.J. Adrosko, Natural Dyes in the United States, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1968

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996

• External source or communication Comment: Hardwood Manufacturers Institute, Memphis, Tenn.: air-dry weight = 33 pcf

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Maple (Accessed Sept. 30, 2005)

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 498

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997