Acer × freemanii
Freeman maple
A hybrid of red maple and silver maple, valuable for the brilliant fall color of the former parent and the cold and increased drought tolerance of the latter. Several encircle the lawn in Ford Plaza. Six specimens of ‘Armstrong’, a broadly columnar female cultivar, grow near the entrance to the Beckman Center, three on each side. Three younger Freeman maples, ‘Armstrong’ or similar, were planted across from them in 2015. In the Stanford Research Park, four Freeman maples are the street tree at 855 California Avenue; another is at 975 just up from the red maple there. Compare them to the silver maple at 890.
Red maples were the planned tree for replacement in Palo Alto’s California Avenue business district which was clearcut in 2009. Arborists and others pushed back strongly on this plan, successfully, pointing out the species’ distaste for dry heat and drought. Sterling silver linden was chosen as the dominant deciduous tree, with a few Freeman maples (a cultivar of trade name Autumn Blaze), sprinkled in, for example around the intersection with Birch Street, to match an older survivor still standing at 201 California Avenue.
About this Entry: Authored Nov 2024 by Sairus Patel.
