Academic literature on the topic 'Bigtooth Maple'

Bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum) has potential as a small, water conserving landscape tree in western landscapes. This potential has been hindered in part by the difficulty in asexually propagating superior accessions. The ability of etiolation to enhance rooting of softwood cuttings of selected wild accessions was determined by grafting six accessions onto seedling rootstocks to use as stock plants. Etiolation was applied to stock plants by placing open-ended, black, velour, drawstring bags over the end of pruned shoots at bud swell allowing new shoots to develop and grow out the end of the bag while leaving the base of the shoot covered. In 2009 and 2010, cuttings from etiolated and nonetiolated shoots were treated with 4000 ppm indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) + 2000 ppm naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), stuck in a premoistened 3 perlite:1 peat (by volume) rooting substrate and placed under intermittent mist. After 4 weeks, 89% (2009) and 85% (2010) of the etiolated cuttings rooted and only 47% (2009) and 17% (2010) of the nonetiolated cuttings rooted. Etiolated cuttings produced on average 11.3 (2009) and 7.2 (2010) roots per cutting and nonetiolated 2.1 (2009) and 0.5 (2010) roots per cutting. Etiolation, and its application through the use of black cloth bags, can be an effective way to increase the rooting of bigtooth maple cuttings and the availability of these plants for use in water conserving landscaping.

Abstract The effects of irrigation water high in soluble salts on the establishment of three species of maple trees in a Southwestern landscape were determined. Thirty Drummond red maple, Caddo sugar maple and bigtooth maple trees were irrigated during a 15-month period with either municipal water (pH 7.9, EC=952–1197 mg/l) or rainwater (pH 6.0, EC = 8.4 mg/l) after planting in containers of sandy clay loam soil. Trees of all species irrigated with rainwater had greater height and caliper increases, and better visual appearances than did those watered with municipal water. The Caddo and bigtooth maples were visually superior to the Drummond red maples. Frequency of irrigation had no effect on any measured plant responses, and no differences in leaf areas due to irrigation source or frequency were found.

Double-node microshoots of bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum Nutt.) were rooted in vitro on Driver-Kuniyuki Walnut (DKW) tissue culture media containing indole acetic acid (IAA). Microshoots represented six sources from three locations within Texas and New Mexico. Microshoots were placed in Phytatrays II™ containing DKW media with no plant growth regulator (DKW0) to reduce the high cytokinin levels used for shoot proliferation. Microshoots were induced to form roots for 15 days by placing them on DKW media containing IAA at 0.01, 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 15 or 20 μmol. Rooting frequency, the number of leaves and callus area were recorded every 30 days for 60 days. Rooting frequency increased up to 29% as IAA concentration increased (P= 0.004). However, as much as 71% of shoots for one of the three Guadalupe Mountain, Texas, sources rooted without auxin treatment after 30 days. The IAA concentration also affected the number of leaves per shoot (P= 0.0228) which averaged seven and callus area (P= <0.0001) which averaged 52 mm2. Average leaf size was 307 mm2. We conclude that IAA induces rooting in microshoots of bigtooth maple after 15 days of root induction. However, one source rooted without auxin treatment. The presence of callus does not interfere with root formation.

Red maple (Acerrubrum L.) is often the most abundant later successional tree species recruiting in the understories of aspen and oak dominated forests on dry–mesic sites in eastern North America. Limited evidence suggests that this species is capable of recruiting to dominant canopy positions on these sites. Given the potential for increasing overstory importance of red maple in these forests, detailed population-level examinations are warranted. In this study we examined the age and height structures of red maple populations in a bigtooth aspen (Populusgrandidentata Michx.) dominated landscape in northern lower Michigan, United States. Stem analysis was used to examine relationships between establishment times, heights, and height growth rates for overstory and understory red maple from 20 replicate plots in five stands located within a 18-km2 area. Red maple was a minor overstory component in the forests of the study area. The understories of all stands were overwhelmingly dominated by red maple. The populations were composed of two clearly defined age cohorts. The first cohort contained mostly sprout-origin individuals that established concurrently with bigtooth aspen within a 10-year period, beginning 70 years prior to the time of sampling. Mean age of the sprout-origin red maple cohort was not significantly different among stands, nor did it differ from the mean age of bigtooth aspen. Mean height of the red maple sprout-origin cohort was not significantly different among stands. Within each stand, height growth rates of these individuals were highly variable. The variability was not related to differences in stem age. Recent height growth increment of the sprout-origin stems was weakly related to position of an individual in the overstory, suggesting that most red maple were competitively suppressed by taller bigtooth aspen. Some sprout-origin red maple in all stands did approach the dominant bigtooth aspen in height growth rate. These were likely stems that were never competitively suppressed. The second red maple cohort contained seedling-origin individuals that began establishing 30–35 years after stand initiation, immediately after culmination of height increment in dominant overstory bigtooth aspen and red maple. This suggests that increasing resource availability, as a result of declining overstory vigor and canopy closure, may be a factor triggering understory reinitiation in these even-aged forests. In general, heights of seedling-origin red maple were more dependent on stem age compared with sprout-origin individuals. However, height growth rates for similar-aged individuals within the seedling cohort were still highly variable. The tallest individuals generally had the greatest rates of recent height increment, and thus were at a competitive advantage within the understory environment, but these were not always the oldest stems. There was, in fact, a trend of increasing initial height growth rate over time for the fastest growing seedling-origin individuals, again suggesting that resource availability in the understory was increasing over the course of stand development. Red maple's overwhelming understory dominance and ability to reach dominant canopy positions in the stands examined suggests a potential for increasing overstory importance on dry–mesic sites. Life history attributes, including shade tolerance, vigorous resprouting potential, and the ability to respond with increased growth upon release, may foster the development and maintenance of a red maple dominated cover type in the Great Lakes region.

Although valued for its fall foliage color, bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum Nutt.) is not widely used in managed landscapes. Furthermore, information on the tolerance of bigtooth maples to drought is scant. We studied water relations, plant development, and carbon isotope composition of bigtooth maples indigenous to New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. Plants were field grown in New Mexico using a pot-in-pot nursery production system. Plants were maintained as well-irrigated controls or irrigated after the weight of pots decreased by 35% due to evapotranspiration. Drought treatment lasted 71 days. Among the drought-stressed plants, plants native to Logan Canyon in Utah (designated UW2), had the greatest root: shoot dry weight ratio (3.0), while plants with the lowest root: shoot dry weight ratio (0.9) were half siblings from a tree native to the Lost Maples State Park in Texas (designated LMP5). Among the five sources we tested, LMP5 had the greatest (1242 cm2) leaf area, while UW2 plants had the smallest (216 cm2). Regardless of the treatment, plants from LMP5 had the highest shoot dry weight (25.7 g). Plants showed no differences neither among sources nor between treatments in relative water content, specific leaf weight, xylem diameter, root dry weight, plant dry weight, relative growth rate, and carbon isotope discrimination, which averaged - 26.53%. The lack of differences in these parameters might be due to selection of these sources from provenances we deemed to be the most drought tolerant. Our selection was based on the results of a previous greenhouse study of 15 bigtooth maple sources. We conclude that these sources, and in particular, plants from LMP5 in Texas, might hold promise for use in areas prone to drought.

Bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum Nutt.) is indigenous to the southwestern United States. This species is not widely used in managed landscapes but the plant holds promise as a useful ornamental tree. Micropropagation might provide additional sources of selected genotypes for the nursery industry, but tissue culture has not been used successfully to propagate this species. We cultured double-node explants from greenhouse-grown, 2-year old seedlings of bigtooth maples that originated from Utah, Texas and New Mexico. Seedling height ranged from 15-90 cm. The shoot region was divided into three equal zones designated as terminal, intermediate and basal. Explants were selected from each of those zones. Explants were established on Murashige-Skoog (MS), Linsmaier-Skoog (LS), Woody Plant Medium (WPM) and Driver-Kuniyuki (DKW) tissue culture media. Shoot proliferation, area of the plate covered by callus and foliar pigment development (hue as determined by Royal Horticultural Society Color charts) were monitored for 17 weeks. Media affected shoot proliferation (P = 0.0042) but the zone of origin (P = 0.6664) of the explant did not. Callus area showed no significant difference among the four media and three zones (P = 0.2091) and averaged 3.60 centimeters2. After four subcultures, each lasting 30 days, explants on DKW media produced 10 shoots per explant. This media might hold promise for the micropropagation of bigtooth maple. Twenty-nine percent of all explants expressed foliar pigmentation, which ranged from red-purple to orange-red. Whether foliar pigment development in tissue culture correlates with expressed pigmentation in nature warrants further investigation.

The potential of bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum) as a small, water-conserving landscape tree for the western United States is limited by the selection of superior accessions from a morphologically diverse gene pool and the ability to propagate wild plants in a nursery environment. Superior accessions were selected based primarily on red fall color. Aerial digital images taken during peak fall color in 2007 and 2008 were synchronized with flight global positioning system (GPS) track files using digital image editor software and visually compared with corresponding satellite images to determine the exact latitude and longitude of selected trees on the ground. Trees were physically located using GPS technology then visually evaluated for initial selection. Criteria included fall color, habitat, relative disease and insect resistance, bud quality, and plant form. From 56 observed trees of interest, six were selected for propagation. Through time-course experiments using multistemmed, bigtooth maple seedling rootstocks in a coppiced stoolbed, the optimum time for chip budding scions of wild accessions in northern Utah was determined to be July through mid-August. Further evaluation of accessions for use in the landscape industry is required.

Numerous wild bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum Nutt.) specimens in northern Utah have potential for use in landscapes, but improvements in selection and propagation need to be developed before these specimens can be introduced to the green industry. Criteria-based evaluations centered on aesthetics, function, and fall color were performed to objectively select superior bigtooth maple specimens. Out of 56 trees initially selected for red fall color, six were selected for propagation based on all three criteria. Five of the six selected trees yielded viable bud take via chip budding. Optimum time for chip budding propagation was determined by four experiments. Coppiced seedling rootstocks were used with the "return budding" of excised buds as scions to parent stock (2006) and grafting buds from wild trees as scions (2007 and 2009). A fourth experiment examined chip budding of wild scions on 2-year-old, containerized, seedling rootstocks. The general time period identified as the optimum time for budding bigtooth maple was July through mid-August. Propagation by cuttings was also explored as an alternative production method among bigtooth maple selections. Softwood cuttings were taken from six selections of wild bigtooth maples grafted on seedling rootstocks growing in a coppiced stool bed environment. Open-ended, black, velour, drawstring bags were placed over the end of pruned shoots at bud swell to initiate etiolation of the cuttings. The bags were left in place during shoot elongation to insure etiolation of the shoot base. Cuttings were harvested after 3 to 4 weeks, wounded, dipped in auxin, and placed on heating mats under an intermittent mist system. Rooting was evaluated on the cuttings after four weeks. Results showed the effects of etiolation to significantly increase the percentage of rooted cuttings and the number of roots per cutting.