Bigtooth Maple

Acer grandidentatum

Hills guide picknative · Hill Countrysold locally

Bigtooth Maple is a large tree native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 20–50 ft tall and 20–30 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and medium water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms yellow in spring. Good for birds, butterflies and small mammals.

Will it grow in your yard?

Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Bigtooth Maple against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.

From our guide

Village of the Hills

Small native maple with the classic maple leaf and the best red-orange fall color in Texas.

Why it works here

A Hill Country relic from cooler times. In a protected canyon-like spot with afternoon shade it gives New England color on limestone.

Watch out

Full west sun will scorch it. Wants good drainage and a sheltered microclimate; a hot open lawn is not it.

The facts

8 sources

Type: Large tree
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
Water: Medium
Height: 20–50 ft
Spread: 20–30 ft
Bloom: Spring · yellow
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Takes caliche and clay · recorded on calcareous, clay, loam, moist
Deer: Low — deer eat it; cage or plant where they cannot reach. Highly palatable. Will not establish under real deer pressure without a cage.
Wildlife: Supports birds, browsing mammals, butterflies and small mammals

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsLimestone Cut Plain

271 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Sold at local nurseries. A Central Texas grower lists it; sizes were not published.

From the growers we read so far — a short list, not the whole trade. Call ahead.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.