Thursdays Ecology

Drummond’s Red Maple

Acer rubrum var. drummondii

Acer rubrum var. drummondii, aka Drummond's Maple or Swamp Maple, is not as cold hardy as the other Maples in its family. The main distinction is the leaf shape and texture: 3- to 5- lobed leaves that are hairy over the entire lower surface. It is known as a pioneer species, along with the Poplars, Sassafrasses, Ashes, and Elms.

Urban soil conditions cause this species to have a maximum height around 60-80 ft, with a large oval shaped canopy. The leaves are green from spring to summer, and begin changing to a red-yellow in the fall. It is deciduous, and so the leaves will drop in late fall, early winter since Houston can stay warm into early December.

Prune only in the late summer or early fall, otherwise it will bleed attracting pest and disease. Keep branches that have a wide angle from the trunk, to ensure a balanced crown. Prune only in its youth.

Considering the urban setting of Houston, or any city in this Ecoregion, a good location to set up several of these trees (along with other pioneer species) would be the large green spaces near the on/off ramps of freeways. Typically they are water runoff zones and don't have large telephone/internet wires, which is great for these large canopy trees.

As the Red Maple grows it's Ecosystem Services will increase and eventually stabilize at:

~139 lbs CO2 Sequestered / tree / yr

~859 lbs CO2 Total Storage

~2592 gals Floodwater Mitigation / yr

~1.6 lbs PM2.5 Air Pollutant Removal / yr

sources: NPSOT, Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center, Houston Wilderness