Bigleaf Maple

Erika and I found a Bigleat Maple, Acer macrophyllum, flowering on 1 May 2020 along a logging road in Kennedy Flats in Mason County west of Olympia. This maple is common in western Washington and is found from southern Alaska to southrn California. Although this individual was relatively small, Bigleaf Maples can grow to be quite large—over 150 feet. They are the only commercially important maple of the Pacific Coast (Wikipedia). Our tree must be still leafing out—leaves get to be almost a foot across. The winged fruits are typical for maples and are eaten by squirrels and birds. The leaves are browsed by deer. Bigleaf Maple is rarely tapped because its sap has a relatively low sugar content. Some maple syrup, however, is produced in areas with a hard freeze, such as coastal British Columbia and in the higher mountain ranges.