The colorful red maple.

For the past 100 years the red maple (Acer rubrum) has been considered a star both in the forest and in the home landscape.

In the home landscape, red maple has long been the most popular tree sold by landscapers and garden centers. Genetic variability in trees grown from seed has spawned hundreds of varieties, and the nursery industry has developed many hybrids in response to demand. The trees are equally prolific in the woods.

But there's a price for too much success, and this overabundance of red maples is causing concern among experts.

Red maple has the largest North-South distribution of any species on the East Coast. And over the past 15 years or so, it has begun to take over the hardwood forests of the East, replacing ecologically and commercially important oaks and hickories. Used to be, fire-resistant oaks were popular targets for cutting, and wildfires burned over less hardy species--like maple--allowing the oaks to thrive. But the practice of suppressing forest fires have allowed shade-loving, fast-growing maples to proliferate.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

It is predicted that within 50 years the red maple will become the most dominant hardwood in our eastern forests, overtaking those oaks and hickories that have dominated for the past 10,000 years. While the total impact of this species shift is unknown, ecologists warn that the change will likely have a negative effect on the animals and birds that get their food from oaks and hickories.

As if that price for stardom isn't enough, foresters and arborists worry that, like elm and chestnut before it, red maple has been overplanted in some cities and backyards, making it vulnerable should a single disease or insect turn up that feeds on the tree. That's a real concern given Americans' penchant for focusing on just a few species. And red maple has long been one of those.

Prized for the gorgeous red fall foliage that gives it its name, red maple--also known as swamp maple or scarlet maple--is one of the most widely distributed trees in eastern North America. The tree is found from Nova Scotia south to Florida and west to Wisconsin. It is rarely seen farther west or south. East of the Rockies it is happiest in zones 4-9.

A PROFUSION OF RED

In addition to red leaves, Acer rubrum has red flowers, red seeds, and red twigs. A large tree, it matures at 60 to 75 feet, spreading to half that width after 70 or 80 years. A new tree should reach about 20 feet tall with a spread of about 12 feet after 20 years. It is preferred over silver maple or boxelder when a large, relatively fast-growing maple is needed.

Its brilliant fall coloring is one of the red maple's most outstanding features. The tree presents its fall show early on, and in the forest the red maple's bright red foliage offers a striking contrast against dark green conifers and the white bark and yellow foliage of paper birches.

Leaves vary within the species, ranging in length from 2 to 6 inches, in color from light green to silvery white underneath, and in size from three to five lobes.

Red maple is often one of the first trees to color up in the autumn. While its fall foliage is predominantly red, it's possible to find displays of orange or yellow fall color, sometimes all on the same tree. The spectacular fall color show lasts several weeks.

The flowers are small--1/5 to 2/5 inches long, with short, spider-like filaments. Both the male and female flowers are a very noticeable bright red and quite fragrant. You can spot the clusters of flowers in late March or early April, usually several weeks before the leaves appear.

But red maples are important for more than just their impressively showy looks. The trees are essential to honeybees, an especially important point now that honeybee populations are decreasing alarmingly. In the woods, a variety of large and small animals and birds are attracted to red maple, including deer, elk, screech owls, moose and pileated woodpeckers.

Like other early-flowering trees, trees such as the silver maple and American elm, red maple flowers are visited by a variety of insects on warm days in late winter when the flowers are releasing pollen. At this time of year there are almost no other sources of protein-rich pollen, and many insects cannot begin reproducing without a source of protein.

Butterflies including the tiger swallowtail and mourning cloak rely on the flowers of the red maple for their survival and reproduction.

In late April the flowers give way to clusters of bright red winged seeds at the ends of branches. The seeds, sought after by both squirrels and birds, turn reddish-brown before dropping early in the summer. No doubt like many a child before and after you, you have at one time or another split the winged seeds and attached them to your nose or sent the airplane propeller-like seeds twirling through the air.

And there are plenty of those seeds to go around. Young red maple trees can produce from 12,000 to 90,000 seeds; mature trees can output a whopping 1 million annually. But watch out for too much of a good thing: The seeds of acer rubrum do not require pregermination treatment and so can germinate immediately after ripening--even if they are only sitting in the mulch layer on the surface of the soil.

The red maple is an easy tree to satisfy when it comes to its growing environment. The trees are happy in a wider range of soil types, soil textures, moisture regimes, and pH ranges than any other forest species found in North America.

If given its druthers, red maple prefers wet conditions but it will tolerate normal moisture situations with grace. It is even tolerant of water-logged soils and flooding (red maples have been used for erosion control, thanks to this trait) and is somewhat tolerant of ice damage. The tree develops best on fertile loamy soils but also grows on a variety of dry or rocky soils.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

As I mentioned above, there are plenty of red maple hybrids to pick from. Here are a few popular choices:

* Autumn Flame, which turns early in the season but grows a little shorter that other varieties, reaching a height of about 35 feet.

* October Glory, with leaves that turn crimson red to orange. It holds its leaves late in the season.

* Red Sunset, with an oval shape and narrow canopy, has proven itself to be a hardy variety for the South.

One particularly impressive red maple growing in my neighborhood near Armada, Michigan, is 125 feet tall and just over 16 feet around at chest height. The national champion red maple, in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, dwarfs that impressive specimen. The champ stands 141 feet tall with a circumference of 26 feet and a crown spread of 88 feet, a point total of 439.

In the lumber industry, the tree is known as soft maple. The close-grained wood resembles sugar maple but has a softer texture, is not as heavy, and has somewhat poorer machining qualities. In the better grades, red maple is substituted for hard maple, particularly for furniture. The wood is also used for veneer, pallets, cabinetry, plywood, barrels, crates, flooring, and railroad ties.

Think of maple syrup and sugar maple is probably the first tree to come to mind, but red maple can be used with pleasing results. Its sap has been found equal to that of sugar maple in sweetness, flavor, and quality.

The only drawback is that red maple has a shorter tapping season. That's because its buds break dormancy much earlier in the spring than those of the sugar maple. This changes the chemical content of the sap and gives the syrup an undesirable flavor, hence the sap must be gathered before this happens.

A couple of cautions in caring for a red maple: Be careful when cutting around one in your yard. Its bark is dark and smooth but very thin for its first 10 to 15 years, making it vulnerable to damage from a bump from a power lawn mower or string trimmer. Although it may seem like a small thing, that bump can lead to disease and insect problems down the road.

And don't plant it too close to a walk or driveway--the red maple's roots are vigorous and can raise sidewalks. Plant carefully and you too can enjoy this star's success for years to come.

THE NATIONAL CHAMP

Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Circumference at 4.5 ft.: 276 in.

Height: 141 ft.

Crown spread: 88 ft.

Total points: 439

Nominator: Will Blozan

The National Register of Big Trees is sponsored by The Dovey Tree Expert Company.

"Yardening" expert Jeff Ball writes from his home in Attica, Michigan.