Red maple (Acer rubrum) is an easy-care deciduous tree appreciated for its brilliant fall color. The same description applies to Autumn Blaze maple (Acer x freemanii "Jeffersred"), a hybrid resulting from a cross between red maple and silver maple. The family resemblance between red maple and Autumn Blaze maple only goes so far, however, and several important differences exist between them.
Variety versus Cultivar
Comparing red maple to Autumn Blaze maple is a little like comparing apples to oranges. Red maple is a variety of maple, while Autumn Blaze is a cultivar. The terms "variety" and "cultivar" are not synonymous. A tree variety is a type of tree present in nature that can be found growing in the wild, while a cultivar is a hybrid created by cultivation. Just so, red maple grows wild in a range extending from eastern Canada south to Florida and west to Texas. Autumn Blaze does not exist in the wild, and propagation is restricted under its patent.
Autumn Blaze maple is a large tree, but red maple is larger. Cultivated, red maple grows to 70 feet, while it can achieve 120 feet in the wild. Given sufficient sun, water and elbow room, this ornamental tree spreads to 50 feet. Autumn Blaze maple tops out at 55 feet, with a 30- to 40-foot spread.
The red maple produces fruit and flowers every year, and both are consistently red. The dense clusters of showy red flowers appear on male trees every spring in March or April, before the leaves appear. The female red maple bears red fruit, the winged samara. The Autumn Blaze maple flowers rarely, but when it does, the blossoms are yellow or chartreuse. Its foliage is green from spring until autumn, when the leaves turn bright orange-red, the color of a blazing fire.
Autumn Blaze grows best in warmer climates, including the Deep South and the southwest. It prefers full sun and does well in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 though 7, according to Monrovia, zones 3 through 8, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden. Red maple is cold hardy; it can grow in partial shade and thrives in USDA plant hardiness zones 3 through 9.
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Acer x freemanii "Jeffersred" AUTUMN BLAZE
- Monrovia: Autumn Blaze Maple
- ZipCodeZoo.com: Acer x freemanii 'Autumn Blaze'
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Acer rubrum
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Acer rubrum L.
- University of Saskatchewan College of Agriculture and Bioresources: Variety versus Cultivar
- Liquidlibrary/liquidlibrary/Getty Images