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Acer saccharum
Sugar Maple
Sugar maples are famous for their clear-running sap, tapped each year in the New England area to produce maple syrup. They also produce a light-colored, fine-grained durable wood that is prized for furniture. These maples are native to the northeastern regions of North America, and reach heights of 80-120' (24-36 m).
Identification: 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. The seedpods of Norway maples are almost completely opposite each other, while they typically form an angle of about 120° in sugar 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.
Sugar maples, like this one in southern Maine, are among the most colorful of trees in the fall. 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 on Earl J.S. Rook's Flora, Fauna, Earth, and Sky ... The Natural History of the Northwoods Acer saccharum at the University of Florida Environmental Horticulture site Acer saccharum at the Ohio State University Horticulture & Crop Science site Acer saccharum at the USDA Forest Service's Silvics of North America site Acer saccharum at the University of Connecticut Plant Database Acer saccharum at the Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation Acer saccharum at the Vanderbilt University Bioimages web site Acer saccharum on Erv Evans' site at the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Acer saccharum at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Acer saccharum on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants Acer saccharum description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 8 Feb 2012. © FloraFinder.com. All rights reserved. |
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