Acer circinatum, the vine maple, is a species of maple native to western North America. Description It most commonly grows as a large shrub growing to around tall, but it will occasionally form a small to medium-sized tree, exceptionally to tall. The shoots are slender and hairless. The trunk rarely grows more than thick. The leaves are long and broad, opposite, palmately lobed with 7 to 11 lobes, almost circular in outline, and thinly hairy on the underside; the lobes are pointed and with coarsely toothed margins. The leaves turn bright yellow to orange-red in autumn. The flowers are small, in diameter, with a dark red calyx and five short greenish-yellow petals; they are produced in open corymbs of 4 to 20 together in spring. The fruit is a two-seeded samara, each seed in diameter, with a lateral wing long. Vine maple trees can bend over easily. Sometimes, this can cause the top of the tree to grow into the ground and send out a new root system, creating a natural arch. This characteristic makes it the only maple capable of layering. Taxonomy It belongs to the Palmatum group of maple trees native to East Asia with its closest relatives being the Acer japonicum (fullmoon maple) and Acer pseudosieboldianum (Korean maple). It can be difficult to distinguish from these species in cultivation. It is the only member of the Palmatum group that resides outside of Asia. Distribution and habitat It can be found from southwest British Columbia to northern California, usually within of the Pacific Ocean coast, found along the Columbia Gorge and Coastal Forest. It can found no further inland than the east side of the Cascade Range. It typically grows in the understory below much taller forest trees, but can sometimes be found in open ground, and occurs at altitudes from sea level up to . Ecology Various birds and mammals eat the seeds of this species. Cultivation It is occasionally cultivated outside its native range as an ornamental tree, from Juneau, Alaska, and Ottawa, Ontario, to Huntsville, Alabama, and also in northwestern Europe. Uses The Quinault people used the shoots to weave baskets. Gallery References External links circinatum Flora of the West Coast of the United States Trees of British Columbia Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Garden plants of North America Plants used in bonsai Ornamental trees Trees of the United States Plants described in