Acer campestre Field Maple

A small, native tree in the British Flora. In its native range it prefers base-rich wooded habitats on calcareous soils and it is a good indicator of ancient woodland and hedges. Although it has a widespread distribution in Britain, it is more common in the east of the country and is probably near the limit of its western distribution range in south Wales. Trees in Gower Ash woodlands are undoubtedly native and there are some relatively old trees in places, e.g. Bishopston Valley. Native trees are rare in upland areas, particularly in the South Wales Coalfield, but isolated trees in the Neath Valley basin, in the ancient riparian corridor woodlands, probably have native ancestry. Field Maple is also widely planted for amenity and along reconstructed highways, but, unfortunately, the trees planted in these places are rarely if ever of native provenance. They tend to have larger, more divided leaves and different shaped, often glabrous, fruits. These introduced trees are mostly referable to Subspecies leiocarpum and probably outnumber our native trees in the county.

Native in south Gower woodlands but widely planted elsewher in West Glamorgan.