Acer glabrum

Mountain maple, Mountain Maple

Family: Sapindaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Mountain maple is a native shrub found in western North American mountain ranges in mixed conifer and montane forest habitats. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces small greenish-yellow flowers in terminal clusters that appear after its leaves emerge. Growing as a multi-stemmed shrub or small tree up to 6 meters tall, it develops a distinctive branching structure with smooth bark. Its leaves are uniquely three-lobed, typically with 3 to 22 sharp or rounded teeth along the outer edges, and display a pale green undersurface. The fruit features distinctive wing-like structures spreading at 70 to 120 degrees, creating an open, winged seed arrangement.

California counties: Mariposa, San Bernardino, Inyo, Siskiyou, Shasta, Tuolumne, Plumas, Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity, Tulare, El Dorado, Nevada, Fresno, Alpine, Amador, Tehama, Placer, Mono, Calaveras, Butte, Sierra, Riverside

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.