Striped Maple
Acer pensylvanicum
Green bark with white stripes that glows in deep shade year-round. An elegant understory tree with clear yellow fall leaves for dark corners.
Typically 1 quart–3 gal · $17–$85 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
Green-and-white striped bark that's genuinely striking in a shaded garden. there's nothing else like it.
Striped maple is the understory tree for gardeners who notice detail. The bark is the feature: green with long white vertical stripes that glow against dark forest backgrounds, visible year-round, genuinely unlike any other tree in a native landscape. The large three-lobed leaves turn clear yellow in fall. It's a quiet, elegant plant that rewards slow looking. In the wild, striped maple lives as a small understory tree in cool, moist Appalachian forests, exactly the kind of deep shade where most trees refuse to grow. It's the plant for the north-facing slope, the heavy shade under old oaks, the cool ravine. Drooping clusters of yellow flowers in late spring feed native bees, and the samaras are taken by birds and small mammals.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown striped maple propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Part sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 6–20 ft · 5–12 ft wide
- Bloom time
- Late spring
- Bloom color
- Yellow
- USDA zones
- 3–7
- Family
- Sapindaceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America from Nova Scotia to Georgia, primarily Appalachian forests
Care notes for striped maple.
Cool, moist, well-drained soil in part to full shade is essential. This tree is not heat tolerant. avoid hot dry sites and full afternoon sun, especially in warmer zones. Mulch heavily to maintain soil moisture and cool root temperatures. Minimal pruning. Not suited to zones 8 and above.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside striped maple.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.