Acer pensylvanicum
species of plant
Acer pensylvanicum, known as the striped maple, whistlewood, moosewood, moose maple or goosefoot maple, is a North American species of maple. It is a small, slow-growing understory tree, and one of the most shade-tolerant species of maple. The striped maple is a sequential hermaphrodite, meaning that it can change its sex throughout its lifetime. It is the only species of snakebark maple native to North America.
Taxonomy
Striped maple was first described in 1753 by Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus, based on a specimen collected in Pennsylvania. The scientific name, pensylvanicum, means "of Pennsylvania". Although pensylvanicum is a misspelling, it is accepted as it was the originally used name when the plant was first described.
Description
Striped maple is a large shrub or small deciduous tree growing to 5–10 meters (16–33 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 20 cm (8 in) in diameter. The shape of the tree is broadly columnar, with a short, forked trunk that divides into arching branches which create an uneven, flat-topped crown.
The striped maple blooms in late spring, producing yellowish-green, bell-shaped inflorescences that hang in long, slender clusters at the tips of branches.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Acer pensylvanicum” is species of plant. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Acer, pensylvanicum and species, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “species of plant” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1190312. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1753.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Acer pensylvanicum” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.