# Vine Maple (Acer circinatum)

> Vine maple, Acer circinatum: a small tree of 10 to 30 feet for zones 4 to 9, how far from a house to plant it, 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/vine-maple/

![Vine maple branches with round, many-lobed green leaves in forest shade](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/vine-maple-1000.jpg?v=7a8867ed "Vine maple on the Woodland Loop trail on July 22, 2024. Black-tailed deer and elk favor its abundant leaves in summer.")
*Photo: Chris Light, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AVine_maple_%28Acer_circinatum%29_8726.jpg))*

Small tree, 10 to 30 feet, zones 4 to 9; full sun, part shade or shade; dry, average or wet ground.

We do not grow vine 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 | Vine Maple |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Oregon vine maple |
| Form | Small tree |
| Height, feet | 10 to 30; up to 43 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 35 |
| Zones | 4 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Fall color, wildlife value, erosion control |
| Flowers | March to June |
| Fruit | Samaras, September to November |
| First crop | Under 10 years |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Planting season | Spring. The Native Plant Network's Corvallis protocol found that bare-root seedlings planted in spring near Corvallis and in western Washington did very well. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | The forest understory, stream banks, rich moist slopes and rocky ground |
| Native in | 4 states |

Vine maple is native in 4 states: [Alaska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AK), [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 the Fire Effects Information System, the NRCS plant guide, the Jepson eFlora and NC State Extension.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=vine-maple): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=vine-maple): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=vine-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=vine-maple): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=vine-maple): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=vine-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=vine-maple): the seed sowing planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=vine-maple): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=vine-maple): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=vine-maple): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [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.
- [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.
- [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md) (*Salix amygdaloides*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares stream banks 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.
- [Tamarack](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/tamarack/index.html.md) (*Larix laricina*): large tree, 50 to 75 feet, zones 2 to 6. Shares stream banks in the wild.
- [Balsam Poplar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/balsam-poplar/index.html.md) (*Populus balsamifera*): large tree, 30 to 100 feet, zones 2 to 5. Shares stream banks in the wild.
- [Every companion of vine maple in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=vine-maple)

## Read from

Its figures come from the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, the Wildflower Center, Calscape, the Jepson eFlora, NC State Extension and the Native Plant Network.