# Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)

> Bigleaf maple, Acer macrophyllum: a large tree of 40 to 80 feet where planted, for zones 5 to 9, how fast it grows, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/bigleaf-maple/

![Hanging clusters of brown bigleaf maple seeds among large, deeply lobed green leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/bigleaf-maple-1000.jpg?v=1d7c659b "Bigleaf maple seeds and leaves at Ravenna Park in Seattle, Washington, on September 2, 2004. It usually lives 50 to 200 years.")
*Photo: Walter Siegmund, [CC BY 2.5](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAcer_macrophyllum_3158.jpg))*

Large tree, 40 to 80 feet where planted, zones 5 to 9; full sun, part shade or shade; dry, average or wet ground.

We do not grow bigleaf maple, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Bigleaf Maple |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Oregon maple, broadleaf maple, canyon maple, Pacific maple |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 40 to 80 where planted; up to 119 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 75 |
| Zones | 5 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Fall color, wildlife value, honey tree |
| Flowers | March to June |
| Fruit | Samaras, September to March |
| First crop | About 10 years (seed nearly every year after) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree's flowers shed pollen and take it at different times, so bigleaf maples mostly cross with their neighbors, and a second tree nearby helps the seed crop. |
| Lifespan | Can live 200 years or more. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Floodplain forests, stream banks, rich moist slopes and rocky ground |
| Native in | 3 states |

Bigleaf maple is native in 3 states: [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR) and [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and the Fire Effects Information System.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=bigleaf-maple): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=bigleaf-maple): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=bigleaf-maple&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=bigleaf-maple): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=bigleaf-maple): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bigleaf-maple): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=bigleaf-maple): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=bigleaf-maple:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=bigleaf-maple): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=bigleaf-maple): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=bigleaf-maple): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Balsam Poplar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/balsam-poplar/index.html.md) (*Populus balsamifera*): large tree, 30 to 100 feet, zones 2 to 5. Shares floodplain forests and stream banks in the wild.
- [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md) (*Salix amygdaloides*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares floodplain forests and stream banks in the wild.
- [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus virginiana*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 2 to 10. Shares stream banks and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Black Cherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-cherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus serotina*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes in the wild.
- [American Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-plum/index.html.md) (*Prunus americana*): small tree, 15 to 25 feet, zones 3 to 8. Shares stream banks in the wild.
- [Every companion of bigleaf maple in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=bigleaf-maple)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Missouri Botanical Garden, NC State Extension, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants and Calscape.