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| ## boxelder {#boxelder .Title-Header}                                 |
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| *Acer negundo* L.                                                     |
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| Plant Symbol = ACNE2                                                  |
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####### *Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & the Biota of North America Program*

## Alternate common names

Ash-leaf maple, California boxelder, western boxelder, Manitoba maple

## Uses

The wood of Boxelder is light, soft and weak, and of low commercial
value. It is used for pulp and rough lumber, usually mixed with other
bottomland species, and has been used for boxes and crates, low-quality
furniture, and interior finishing.

Boxelder produces sap high in sugar content and can be used to produce
syrup sometimes called \"mountain molasses.\" Native Americans used the
cambium for food, boiled down the sap for syrup and candy, and made a
tea from the inner bark to induce vomiting. The new branches were used
to make charcoal for ceremonial painting.

The trees are useful for quick growth in naturalized riparian plantings,
but they are short-lived and disease-prone. The species was once planted
in the U.S. as a street tree and ornamental cultivars have been
developed (including forms with red fall color, variously variegated
leaves, and without seeds). It is not now commonly planted in the U.S.,
where its removal is sometimes more of a challenge. The quick growth of
this species, however, and its tolerance to urban conditions, allows it
to contribute to shade and rapid re-greening in disturbed city sites,
particularly in the Great Plains and the West, because of its drought
and cold tolerance. Boxelder can be used temporarily until replaced by
slower growing but longer lasting trees.
![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.6979166666666665in"
height="4.0465277777777775in"}

Boxelder was once widely planted in shelterbelts in the Great Plains to
reduce wind erosion and dust storms, but these shelterbelts have largely
been removed. Its fibrous root system and prolific seeding habit make it
valuable for erosion control in some parts of the world. The seeds are
important winter food for birds and small mammals, deer browse young
plants.

## Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious
status, and wetland indicator values.

## Description 

*General:* Maple Family (Aceraceae): Boxelder is a native tree growing
to 20 m tall, with broad rounded crown, usually developing a shallow,
fibrous root system; bark light gray-brown with shallow fissures,
becoming deeply furrowed; twigs slender, shiny green, usually glabrous
but sometimes hairy. The leaves are opposite, 13-20 cm long, pinnately
compound with 3(-5 or more) leaflets 5-10 cm long and 3-6 cm wide,
long-pointed, coarsely toothed and often shallowly lobed. The flowers
are yellow-green, about 5 mm long, the male (staminate) flowers
fascicled, the female (pistillate) flowers in drooping racemes; most
trees are either male or female (the species is essentially dioecious),
but bisexual flowers occur on a few trees (technically
polygamo-dioecious). Fruits are winged nutlets (samaras) in a pair,
2.5-4 cm long, clustered on long stalks. The common name refers to the
resemblance of leaves to those of ash (*Fraxinus*). Boxelder, its other
often used common name, refers to a resemblance to elder (*Sambucus*)
and the use of the soft wood for box making.

Boxelder is unusual among American maples in having compound leaves.
Apart from the opposite leaves, seedlings and young saplings of Boxelder
bear a remarkable resemblance to poison ivy (*Toxicodendron radicans*)
and are often mistaken for it by beginning naturalists.

*Variation within the species:*

Substantial variation occurs over the range of the species; numerous
forms and varieties have been described, but only six varieties
currently recognized (in some treatments, for example, see McGregor
1986). These are primarily distinguished by coloration of the branches,
twig and fruit pubescence, and leaflet number.

Var. *arizonicum* Sarg. -- Arizona and New Mexico

Var. *californicum* (Torr. & Gray) Sarg. -- California

Var. *interius* (Britt.) Sarg. -- midwest US into the western states

Var. *negundo* ­-- the eastern half of the US, with naturalized western
outlyers

Var. *texanum* Pax -- south-central US

Var. *violaceum* (Kirchn.) Jaeger -- north-central US and most of Canada

## Distribution

Boxelder is the most widely distributed of all American maples -- its
native range extends from the east coast of the U.S. to California, and
from Alberta to southern Mexico and Guatemala. The range is relatively
continuous in the eastern U.S., but broken into small areas in the West
and toward Central America. It has become naturalized in areas far
outside of its native range, including Europe. It is not known from
northern North America. For current distribution, please consult the
Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

## Adaptation 

Boxelder is natively a tree of river bottoms and disturbed sites on
heavy, wet soils, often seasonally flooded (up to 30 days). It is one of
the most common bottomland trees throughout its range, usually following
the pioneer species of cottonwood and willow in colonizing alluvial
bottoms, then growing with silver and red maples, American elm, American
sycamore, and sweetgum. Populations in native habitats have decreased
because of clearing of bottomland forest for agriculture, but they have
greatly increased in urban areas. Success of the species on disturbed
urban sites owes to its prolific seed production and wide dispersal,
ease of germination, tolerance of low oxygen conditions, and fast growth
on clay or heavy fill. Boxelder also is found as a pioneer species on
disturbed upland sites where a seed source is nearby.

Flowering: March-May (with or just before the leaves), fruiting:
August-October. The flowers are wind pollinated but also visited by
bees.

## Establishment

Flowering in Boxelder is in early spring and large quantities of seed
are produced each year, beginning on trees 8-11 years old. The seeds
ripen in autumn, fall continuously from autumn until spring, and are
light, large-winged, and widely wind-dispersed. They over-winter and
germinate the following spring. Best germination follows stratification
for 60-90 days at 33° F.

Boxelder seeds germinate in shade or full sun but seedlings begin to die
off after 1-2 years unless openings are formed. Successful seedbeds vary
greatly. Trees are fast growing, producing up to 1-inch diameter annual
growth for the first 15-20 years. Early growth is best in full sun but
tolerant of partial shade. Young trees commonly produce stump and root
sprouts. Average longevity is about 60 years; maximum longevity is
rarely more than 100.

## Management

Boxelder is tolerant to stressful sites and requires little special
care, but it is relatively short-lived and the branches of older trees
are susceptible to ice and wind damage. Boxelder is highly sensitive to
2,4-D and also is susceptible to fire and mechanical damage because of
its thin bark.

The boxelder bug is a common associate of boxelder

throughout most of its range. The nymphs feed mainly on female
(pistillate) trees in leaves, fruits, and soft seeds. The trees are not
greatly damaged but the insects sometimes invade human habitation in
large numbers with the onset of cold weather.

## Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

Boxelder is available at most nurseries within it distribution.

## References

Koelling, M.R. & R.B. Heiligmann (eds.) 1996. *North American maple
syrup producers manual*. Ohio State Univ. Extension Bull. 856. AUG00.
\<http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/\~ohioline/b856/index.html\>

Li, H.-L. 1960. *The cultivated maples*. Morris Arbor. Bull. 11:41-47.

Maeglin, R. R. and L. F. Ohmann 1973. *Boxelder (Acer negundo): a review
and commentary*. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 100:357-363.

McGregor, R.L. 1986. *Acer*. Pp. 569-570, IN: Great Plains Flora
Association. *Flora of the Great Plains*. Univ. of Kansas Press,
Lawrence, Kansas.

Overton, R.P. 1990. *Acer negundo* L. *Boxelder*. Pp. 41-45, IN: R.M.
Burns & B.H. Honkala (tech. coords.). *Silvics of North America*.
*Volume 2*. *Hardwoods*. USDA, Forest Service Agric. Handbook 654,
Washington, D.C.

## Prepared By

*Guy Nesom,* BONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

## Species Coordinator

*Lincoln Moore*, USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge,
Louisiana

Edited: 17jan01 jsp; 07feb03ahv; 24may06jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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