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Boxelder

The Acer Negundo is commonly known as Arce (spanish), Ash-leaved Maple, Ashleaf Maple, Boxelder, California Boxelder, Fresno De Guajuco (spanish), Inland Boxelder, Manitoba Maple, as well as Western Boxelder

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Growing Regions

Boxelder is widespread in riparian and palustrine communities throughout most of the contiguous United States. Its range extends from New Jersey and central New York west through extreme southern Ontario, central Michigan, northern Minnesota, central Manitoba, central Saskatchewan, southern Alberta and central Montana, eastern Wyoming, Utah, and California; and south to southern Texas and central Florida. It is also local in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Idaho, and Nevada. Boxelder has been naturalized in Maine, southern Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and in southeastern Washington and eastern Oregon. Varieties of boxelder occur in the mountains of Mexico (Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, and south to Chihuahua) and in Guatemala [32]. General distribution by variety is as follows [25]: var. negundo -- eastern United States and introduced to eastern Washington and Oregon var. interior -- Rocky Mountains to Arizona and Canada var. violaceum -- northeastern United States and northern Great Plains var. texanum -- western Missouri, eastern Kansas and throughout the Southeast var. californicum -- California var. arizonicum -- Arizona and New Mexico

     

General Information

The fully documented scientific name of boxelder is Acer negundo L. Numerous varieties of this widely distributed species have been designated [16,25,26,41]: Acer negundo var. negundo L. Acer negundo var. interior (Britt.)Sarg. Acer negundo var. violaceum (Kirchn.) Jaeg. Acer negundo var. texanum Pax. Acer negundo var. californicum Sarg. Acer negundo var. arizonicum Sarg. These varieties appear to represent fairly distinct geographic races. Intergradation occurs between varieties and has been considerable between var. violaceum and var. negundo [16].

Boxelder is a component of various deciduous forest plant associations
in the Great Plains.  It is associated with the following overstory
dominants:  green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), narrowleaf cottonwood
(Populus angustifolia), plains cottonwood (P. sargentii), aspen (P.
tremuloides), willow (Salix spp.), and bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa).  In
Arizona and New Mexico, boxelder is the overstory dominant in several
high elevation riparian forests.  In much of this species' range there
are no described plant communities.

Published classification schemes listing boxelder as a member of various
community types (cts), habitat types (hts), or dominance types (dts) are
presented below.

   Location            Classification          Authority

   AZ, NM              riparian cts            Szaro 1990 
   MT                  riparian dts            Hansen & others 1988
   MT, se ID           riparian cts            Padgett & others 1989     
sw NM                  riparian hts            Medina 1986
sc OK                  bottomland cts          Petranka & Holland 1980
   SD,ND: Custer NF    general veg. hts        Hansen & Hoffman 1988

Much of the information presented here is attributed to:
Rosario, Lynn C. 1988. Acer negundo. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available at USDA Forest Service.

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