Acer cappadocicum Gled. (As.) – A rare escape from cultivation. First observed as seedlings in the city of Brussels (Jette) in 1992. In recent years seen in a cemetery in Roeselare (numerous seedlings in the vicinity of planted individuals, since 2006) and in Verviers (in identical circumstances, in 2010). This species extensively produces root suckers; these are not always easily separated from seedlings.
Similar behavior has been observed in many other countries where Acer cappadocicum is planted, for instance in the British Isles (Stace 2010). This species is also known from Lorraine in northeastern France – relatively close to the Belgian frontiers – where it is locally naturalized (Auquier & al. 1976, Bonassi 2014, Tison & de Foucault 2014). A hybrid with A. platanoides L. (sub A. xdieckii Pax, nom. illegit.; Geerinck 1997) has been reported from this area (Parent 1975).
Selected references
Auquier P., Duvigneaud J. & Lambinon J. (1976) A propros d'Acer cappadocicum Gleditsch distribué antérieurement par la Societé d'Echange. Soc. Ech. Pl. Vasc. Eur. Occid. Bassin Médit., Bull. 16: 79-81.
Bonassi J. (2014) Catalogue des taxons présents en région Lorraine – Flore vasculaire. Available online at: http://www.floraine.net/fileadmin/floraine/Documents/PLFCBNNE_catalogue_...
Geerinck D. (1997) Un nouvel hybride pour le genre Acer L.: Acer x verhaegheanum Geerinck (A. cappadocicum Gled. x A. platanoides* L.). Nat. Belg. 78(1): 9-10.
Parent G.H. (1975) Etudes chorologiques et ecologiques sur la flore Lorraine II. — Acer x dieckii Pax dans le Toulois. Dumortiera 1: 20-30.
Stace C. (2010) New flora of the British Isles, 3th ed.: XXXII + 1232 p. Cambridge University Press.
Tison J.-M. & de Foucault B. (coord.) (2014) Flora Gallica. Flore de France. Editions Biotope, Mèze : xx + 1196 p.
Verloove F. & Lambinon J. (2014) La sixième édition de la Nouvelle Flore de la Belgique : commentaires chorologiques. Dumortiera 104: 41-73. [available online at : http://www.plantentuinmeise.be/DUMORTIERA/DUM_104/Dum_104_41-73_NF-6_Cho...