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Fall color

Bark

Aceraceae

This is the loveliest as well as the rarest of Texas's maples. It is the dominant maple in the Sabine National Forest and is the most numerous of the sugar maple complex in that area. Chalk maple averages only 12 to 15 feet high, although it can reach 20 feet tall. It is almost always multitrunked with characteristic whitish to light gray bark, although it is not as pronounced in Texas as it is farther east. It has pendent, drooping leaves, much like those of Acer nigrum (black maple), which occurs in the northern U.S. Chalk maple is very similar to Southern sugar maple; one difference is that the leaves of Southern sugar maple are green on both sides while those of chalk maple underneath are are a glaucous (gray-green) green because of the velvety hairs.

Plant Habit or Use: small tree

Exposure: partial sun

Flower Color: yellow

Blooming Period: spring

Fruit Characteristics: reddish-brown samara

Height: to 20 ft.

Width: to 15 ft.

Plant Character: deciduous

Heat Tolerance: medium

Water Requirements: medium low

Soil Requirements: acid neutral

USDA Hardiness Zone: 5

Additional Comments: