The Big leaf Maple of the Pacific Northwest has an impressive leaf size. I always notice them in the fall when they are strewn on the ground after a storm. They are big! Big enough to provide layers of mulch for the year and subsequently provide big headaches to the person holding the rake. Too bad they don’t fall in the summer, we could use them as beach blankets. We could also enjoy them in winter and sled down the snowy slopes on them. In spring we could shelter from the rain under their expanse. This tree is a garden unto itself as it often hosts mosses, lichens and ferns. It’s quite a sight to see the moss covered trees of the Hoh Rainforest, with their odd shadowy shapes, dripping with soft, wet moss. It’s also fun to spot the licorice fern growing on the branches, sprouting well above ground level. This tree is native to the Pacific Northwest and grows at low to middle elevations to over 100 feet (35 m). Lucky Canadians who have this beautiful leaf on their flag!
Rainyleaf 
I have never seen such big leaves!
I think I love them on the ground more than in the tree because I can really see them!
So awesome! I wonder if the size make it easier or harder to gather up the leaves.
Thanks for this post – never realized that A. macrophyllum was the famous ‘Maple Leaf’! We have a lovely variety called ‘Mocha Rose’, whose new foliage looks just as its name suggests.
I don’t think this species is the Canadian maple, but definitely this genus. Yes, Latin is great, it says it like it is.
What a gorgeous leaf and so big…I love that last picture the most!
There’s something magical about that place (the Hoh Rainforest)!
After last year, I was never going to speak of these trees again, but did you notice how the leaves this year seemed to come down almost all at once? Must be the wet spring/droughty fall we had. Your remark on the ‘raking headache’ jarred loose another writing on these trees…and pbmgarden: if they fall on flat open ground, they are fairly easy to rake right up, but if they land elsewhere, they are a nightmare of painstaking labor. They ARE easy to find, though.
My yard is calling me……get out the rakes!