Acer saccharum Marshall

Sugar maple

Sugar maples are famous for their clear-running sap, tapped each year in the New England area to produce maple syrup. Real maple syrup, not the fake stuff made with corn syrup that is sold in most grocery stores. There is no comparison! They also produce a light-colored, fine-grained durable wood that is prized for furniture. And they are amazingly beautiful in the fall.

Plants: Trees are deciduous, reaching 80–115′ (24–35 m) in height, rarely up to 150′ (45 m).

Leaves: Leaves are palmate, up to 8″ (20 cm) in size. Sugar maples are similar to Norway maples, but the leaves have more teeth. Sap from the base of a leaf stem is clear, vs. milky in Norway maples. Silver maples (with the similar-sounding name Acer saccharinum) have much more deeply lobed leaves (both species are found in about the same range). Black maples have leaves with 3 lobes and softer curves. Florida maples have leaves with velvety undersides and more rounded leaf tips, while sugar maples are not hairy. Florida maples are also found predominantly in Ala­bama, Mississippi, and Georgia (and some parts of Florida and nearby states), while sugar maples occur throughout much of the eastern United States.

Flowers: Flowers are in panicles of five to ten, yellow-green, and lacking petals. Trees don’t start producing flowers until they are at least ten years old.

Fruits: The seedpods of Norway maples are almost com­pletely opposite each other, while they typically form an angle of about 120° in sugar maples. The “wings” of the seeds, called samaras, are ¾–1″ (2–3 cm) long, with seeds that are ¼–⅜″ (7–10 mm) around.

Habitats:Sugar maples prefer rich forests, especially areas rich in magnesium and iron, and lime. They are also commonly found in dry forests and woodlands.

Edibility: The sugary sap is boiled down to make maple syrup, a delicacy. Other portions of this tree are not edible.

Online References:

 

Acer saccharum description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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