Freeman maple (Acer × freemanii ‘Marmo’)

Features and Characteristics

Acer × freemanii, commonly called Freeman maple, is a hybrid of red maple (A. rubrum) and silver maple (A. saccharinum). The Freeman maple cultivars commonly sold in commerce today reportedly combine some of the best features of both parents, namely, solid structure, attractive form and showy fall color (from red maple) and adaptability and rapid growth (from silver maple). Oliver M. Freeman of the National Arboretum made the first controlled crosses between red maple and silver maple in 193 Edward Murray named this hybrid cross in 1969 in honor of Oliver M. Freeman. Notwithstanding the foregoing, crosses between red and silver maples occur not only by controlled propagation but also naturally in the wild. It is sometimes difficult to identify a Freeman hybrid because of the complexity of crosses and backcrosses that may occur.

Cultivars are sometimes listed for sale by nurseries under Acer rubrum instead of Acer × freemanii.

Genus name is the Latin name for a maple tree.

Specific epithet and common name honors Oliver Freeman who first grew A. × freemani at the U. S. National Arboretum in 193

‘Marmo’ is an upright-oval to broad columnar deciduous tree with a strong central leader. It was selected from several trees which were planted in 1920 near Lake Marmo on the grounds of the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. It was first registered in 198 It typically grows to 20-25′ tall over the first 10 years, eventually maturing over time to 45-70′ tall and to 35-40′ wide. Five-lobed, green leaves tinted with red emerge from red petioles in spring. Leaves mature to medium green above and silver-gray beneath. Superb fall color varies from scarlet-green to burgundy-yellow.