Black maple, on the other hand, occupies a much smaller natural range (Figure 3.7). Sugar maple occurs naturally throughout most of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada (Figure 3.6). Sugar and black maple are very similar species and unquestionably the most preferred species for producing maple products, primarily because of their high sugar content. Species Suitable for Maple Product Production Sugar and Black Maple Silver maple bark, fruit, leaf, and twig. Red maple bark, fruit, leaf, and twig.įigure 3.5. Black maple bark, fruit, leaf, and twig.įigure 3.4. Sugar maple bark, fruit, leaf, and twig.įigure 3.3. Commercial maple syrup production in North America.įigure 3.2.

One of two seeds present is often poorly developed or aborted. V-shaped, double-winged fruit 1 1/ 2 to 2 inches long, with widely divergent wings. Similar to red maple but bruised or scraped bark has a very fetid or foul odor. Considerable red is seen in bark pattern as scales develop. Silvery gray on young trees breaking into long thin scaly plates that give the trunks of older trees a very shaggy appearance.

Fruit matures in spring.ĥ-7 inches wide deeply clefted 5-lobed with the sides of the terminal lobe diverging toward the tip light green upper surface and a silvery white underside leaf margin with fine teeth (but not the inner edges of the sinuses). V-shaped, double-winged fruit about 1/ 2-1 inch long. Slender, shiny, usually reddish in color terminal buds 1/ 8- 1/ 4 inch long, blunt, red odorless if bark bruised or scraped. Young trees up to 4-8 inches with a smooth light gray bark, developing into gray or black ridges and ultimately narrow scaly plates. Similar to sugar maple with, perhaps, a slightly larger seed.Ģ-6 inches wide 3lobed (occasionally weakly 5-lobed) sharply V-shaped sinuses small sharp teeth along Similar to sugar maple but twig surface with small warty growths (lenticels, which are not raised much above the bark surface in sugar maple) and often more hairy buds. Similar to sugar maple but usually darker and more deeply grooved or furrowed. Similar to sugar maple but usually 3-lobed (sometimes five) often appears to be drooping often with a thicker leaf and lear stem (petiole) than sugar maple usually with two winglike or leaflike growths at the base of the petiole (stipules). Horseshoe-shaped double-winged fruit with parallel or slightly divergent wings. Older trees developing furrows and ultimately long, irregular, thick vertical plates that appear to peal from the trunk in a vertical direction.Ī somewhat shiny, brownish, slender, relatively smooth twig with 1/ 4- 3/ 8 inch long sharply pointed terminal bud. Young trees up to 4-8 inches with smooth gray bark. Identifying Characteristics of Sugar, Black, Red and Silver Maple.ģ-5 inches wide 5lobed (rarely 3-lobed) bright green upper surface and a paler green lower surface leaf margin without fine teeth (compare with red and silver maple). Also, all four produce a fruit called a samara (or double samara), which is a pair of connected, winged seeds. Like all maples, the leaves, buds and twigs of all four are attached in pairs opposite each other along the branches. All have leaves of similar shape: a single leaf blade with the characteristic maple shape, 3-5 lobes radiating out like fingers from the palm of a hand (palmately lobed) with notches (called sinuses) between the lobes. These four species share several characteristics in common. Table 3-2 contains a descriptive comparison and Figures 3.2 through 3.5 illustrate characteristic leaves, bark, twigs, and fruits of sugar, black, red and silver maple. Southeast United States Coastal Plain & Piedmont Northeast United States & Southeast Canada Northeast United States & Southern Canada Maple species native to the United States.

Hybrid maple tree types