Acer platanoides Drummondii - Maple

Acer platanoides 'Drummondii' is a stunning variegated variety of the Norway Maple. With its beautiful green leaves widely edged with cream-white, this large tree with a bright pyramidal crown stands out from the others in a grove or at the edge of the garden. Often used as a solitary tree or to line a street. It is not demanding in terms of soil, as long as it is deep enough to accommodate its powerful root system. Plant it in a sunny location to enhance the variegation of the foliage.

Native to the Caucasus and widespread in Europe from Scandinavia to Spain and east to Russia, Acer platanoides is a large deciduous tree with rapid growth often associated with oak, lime, and elm in high-altitude forests. It can live up to 200 years.

'Drummondii' was selected in Germany in the 1910s. It stands out from the species by a slightly smaller development and slower growth. At maturity, this single-trunk tree with a wide pyramid-shaped crown will reach 15 m (49.2 ft) in height and 8 m (26.2 ft) in width. Its foliage is deciduous, with opposite, palmate leaves measuring 10 cm to 20 cm (3.9 in to 7.9 in) long, with 5 very pointed, dentate lobes. These leaves are tinged with pink when they emerge. The lamina then turns a bright green, more or less widely edged with cream-white. These leaves, borne on long petioles, are glabrous and have a glossy texture. They turn a beautiful yellow to coppery colour in autumn. Discreet flowering, in the form of upright corymbs of tiny yellow-green flowers, takes place before the leaves emerge, in March, on plants aged 15 to 20 years. It is followed, in June, by winged fruits 3 cm to 5 cm (1.2 in to 2 in) long, called samaras. The bark of this tree is brown and marked with numerous shallow longitudinal cracks.

Acer platanoides 'Drummondii' is an easy-to-grow tree, magnificent as a solitary specimen in the middle of a park, for example. It is often used to border large avenues. It can be planted in a grove with its purple-leaf counterpart, the 'Crimson King' Norway Maple, Purple Beech, or 'Forest Pansy' Redbud, for example.