Shantung Maple has done very well out here in the Great Plains and believe me, that's saying a lot, since many trees struggle with the heat(a dry desert like heat) and wind out here. I've seen it growing well in Salina, KS, Hutchison, KS, Wichita, KS, Oklahoma City, OK, Ardmore, OK, Gainesville, TX, Dallas, TX, Wichita Falls, TX, and Waco, TX. Like Lou mentioned it also did very well in trials at the John Pair Research Station near Wichita, KS. It also grows well and gives great fall color down into South Texas, where few other trees give good fall colors. It grows well up into Nebraska, so it's cold hardy as well(zone 5). It's much much tougher in terms of wind, ice, heat, and cold hardiness than Japanese Maple. Along with the Caddo Maples(couple different cultivars named by the late Dr. John Pair) which also did very well in the trials up near Wichita, KS, I'd say they are the toughest, best performing ornamental Maples out in the Great Plains(Silver Maple does well also, but usually isn't nearly as ornamental as these and isn't nearly as good in ice storms). My Shantung Maple which is planted out in a field has grown well and performed great for me, although I'm in a very humid summer area with relatively high rainfall(40" per year).

These are notoriously known to be trained as multi-trunked specimens for a shrub-effect and more peeling bark as a result at a persons eye level, etc - I beg to differ. Most maples species have what is termed a decurrent growth habit - they tend not to develop a strong central leader, but develop scaffold branching relatively low on the trunk. This will ultimately result in a more rounded and evenly spreading canopy as they mature and often, depending on the location of the initial scaffold branching, in a more a shrub-like or multi-trunked appearance. But where those primary scaffold branches develop is determined by nature, not by man. You can't "paste" a scaffold branch below where it naturally occurs nor can you easily train or encourage even a sapling into generating a scaffold branch at any specific location. And often the development of very low scaffold branching brings with it its own set of problems regarding crotch angles, included growth and lack of structural integrity. Some maple species will tend to display an excurrent growth habit - the development of a vertically growing central leader - when young, only to mature into a more spreading, decurrent habit as they age. Acer griseum typically follows this pattern, which is why you will often find them in nurseries as gawky, scrawny, narrow but somewhat tall young trees with a single clear trunk and the appearance of a central leader. It is not until they are established and have a few years on them that they begin to display a more rounded and evenly spreading canopy common to the decurrent habit. Some will display this more characteristic growth habit at a much earlier age and these are the ones that will appear as more shrub-like in form or have the appearance of multiple trunks, as they have developed lower scaffold branching. FWIW, the appearance of the exfoliating bark can vary considerably, sometimes appearing at a very early age - we have 3' saplings at the nursery that already show evidence of this trait - and others not developing this feature until more mature. And its pretty hard to ignore regardless of growth habit or so-called "training", since it begins from the ground up. And since the presence of low scaffold branching also brings with it foliage, very low branching or the multi-trunked effect tends to obscure this effect rather than enhance it with a clear span of trunk. Dax, if you have any sources that indicate how this training into a multi-trunked form is accomplished, I'd be very interesting in reading them, as the bulk of the lietrature - aside from coppicing practices, which are entirely separate - focuses on training how to avoid less structurally sound, multi-trunked trees rather than encouraging or somehow training to create them.

I'd agree generally that the introductions of these maple types has not been much of a boon to the plant selector. Norway maples are troublesome enough, these should match them seed for seed, and as Emb says, they just branch out that much lower. We've got a bunch of them on streets but they are not the answer, IMO. What is the question you might ask? Simply put, with the demise of the Am. elm, the appearance of EAB, and a host of other factors, the urban forester has a limited palette from which to choose when it comes to street trees. +oM

Where did you get Mexican Sugar Maple? It's not widely available. Heck, I only know of one place that sells it is at SFA plant sale that I bought one last week. I did grow one from seed but due to lack of space at the old house in Dallas area, I gave one to my neighbor. I wonder how it did this year. I collected a lot of seeds last week. Should be fun! I've grown Fire Dragon and it's the toughest one of all maples you've listed. I had one that was 18 ft tall and 15 ft wide. Doesn't look like Mexican Sugar Maple likes alkaline soil too much. How long as it been in the ground?