Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Acer circinatum (Vine Maple) is a species of maple native to western North America, from southwest British Columbia to northern California, usually within 300 km of the Pacific Ocean coast. It most commonly grows as a large shrub growing to around 5-8 meters tall, but it will occasionally form a small to medium-sized tree, exceptionally to 18 meters tall. The shoots are slender and hairless. It typically grows in the understory below much taller forest trees, but can sometimes be found in open ground, and occurs at altitudes from sea level up to 1,500 meter.

Plant type

Tree

Size

15 - 30 ft Tall
3 - 6 ft Wide

Form

Upright

Growth rate

Moderate, Slow

Dormancy

Winter Deciduous

Calscape icon
Color

Green, Red, Yellow

Flowering season

Spring

Special uses

Deer resistant

Sun

Deep Shade, Partial Shade

Water

High, Moderate

Summer irrigation

Never irrigate once established

Ease of care

Easy

Cold tolerance

Tolerates cold to 0 - 20° F

Soil drainage

Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil description

Fine with many types of soil as long as well draining.
Soil PH: 5.5 - 7.5

Maintenance

May be pruned to keep as a dwarf tree, or even as a bonzai.

Propagation

For propagating by seed: Scarification, 1-2 mos. warm, and 3-6 mos. cold stratification; when periodic checks during cold stratification indicate incipient germination, the whole lot should be sown ( USDA Forest Service 1974). Use fresh seeds.

Sunset Zones

1, 2, 3, 4*, 5*, 6*, 7*, 8, 9, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18, 19, 20

Site type

Stream banks, forest understories, canyon bottoms

Plant communities

Mixed Evergreen Forest, Forest, Yellow Pine Forest, Wetland-Riparian

Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Rocky Mountain Maple (Acer glabrum). Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata), Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis), Service Berry (Amelanchier utahensis), Pacific Silver Fir (Abies amabilis), Dwarf Mahonia (Berberis aquifolium var repens), Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa), Sitka Alder (Alnus viridis ssp. sinuata), Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa), Oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor), Pacific Rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum)

Bats
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

10 confirmed and 55 likely

Confirmed Likely

Polyphemus moth

Antheraea polyphemus

Epinotia lomonana

Elegant Sheepmoth

Hemileuca eglanterina

Hemlock Looper

Lambdina fiscellaria