The Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) is a maple native to eastern and central Europe and southwest Asia, from France east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran.
It is a deciduous tree to 20 - 30 m tall with a broad, rounded crown and grey-brown, shallowly grooved bark; unlike many other species of maple, mature trees do not tend to develop a shaggy bark. The leaves are opposite, palmately lobed with five lobes, 12 - 25 cm across. The leaf stems secrete a milky juice when broken. The flowers are in corymbs of 15-30 together, yellow-green with five petals 3-4 mm long; flowering occurs in early spring after 30 - 55 growing degree days.
The fruit is a double samara with two winged seeds, the seeds are disc-shaped, strongly flattened, 10 - 15 mm across and 3 mm thick. The wings are 3 - 5 cm long, widely spread, approaching a 180-degree angle. It typically produces a large quantity of viable seeds.
Cultivation
It has been widely introduced into cultivation in other areas, including western Europe northwest of its native range. It grows north of the Arctic Circle at Tromsø, Norway. It is grown as a street and shade tree. It is favoured due to its tolerance of poor, compacted soils and urban pollution.
