The taxonomic placement of sugar maple ( Acer saccharum), black maple ( A. Compared to sugar maple, Norway maple lacks the plated bark on mature trees, has flowers that are lighter green and physiologically dissimilar, and has leaves with rounded tips that excrete a milk-like sap when broken. The exotic Norway maple ( Acer platanoides) also resembles sugar maple. Look for the following features in sugar maple: 5-lobed leaves that are relatively flat and glabrous, petioles that are glabrous and lack stipules, somewhat lighter-colored twigs. Separating the two species can be challenging. The closest genetic relative is black maple ( Acer nigrum), which some taxonomists consider a subspecies of saccharum. Similar Species: In Indiana, sugar maple ( Acer saccharum) is one of five widespread maple trees with palmately-lobed, simple leaves. Leaves with pointed tips, usually 5-lobed. Key Characteristics: When identifying sugar maple, look for the following characteristics: Sugar maples attain maximum height at 125–150 years. Growth is rapid for the first 35–40 years and slows afterward. In optimum conditions, individuals may live up to 250–300 years. Sugar maple is used in piano frames, in woodenware, shutters, spools, spindles, bobbins, turned items, butcher blocks, skewers, dowels and even toothpicks.Life Expectancy: Sugar maple trees are long-lived. It was used for the front end or head of bowling lanes where the ball is typically dropped, and also can be used to make bowling pins, billiard cues, croquet mallets and balls. Because of its hardness and uniform grain characteristics it is also commonly used for industrial, gymnasium and residential flooring. White hard maple is commonly used for high-end cabinets, furniture, architectural millwork, paneling and face veneer. The wood weighs 44 pounds per cubit foot, and is similar in weight and strength to oaks. Sugar maple is one of the best woods for shaping and boring and is rated as intermediate for planing and turning. The heartwood is light to darker brown with some red color. However, due to color issues, white maple is one of the most difficult types of lumber that can be produced. Its hardness and ability to take a high polish and smooth finish and the white color of the sap wood has resulted in many specialty uses. Sugar maple is one of the hardest, most uniform grained and valuable species. This species also is susceptible to leaf scorch, verticillium wilt, tar spot and anthracnose and can be affected by borers and cottony maple scale.Īccording to the Hardwood Lumber and Veneer Series, sugar maples naturally occur in the northeastern United States and southern Canada, reaching as far west as Missouri and Minnesota and as far south as Tennessee and back up the Appalachian Mountains to the Northeast. The Morton Arboretum warns again pruning maps in the spring as they are ‘bleeders’ and will lose large amounts of sap. The yield of sugar maples is one of the highest among maple trees. Sugar maples produce maple sap, which can be used to make maple syrup. Sugar maples grow 60 to 75 feet tall and can be 40 to 50 feet wide, providing excellent shade with their full foliage. The seed or fruit of sugar maple is a winged seed which occurs in pairs and turned from green to brown when mature. It can range from relatively smooth on saplings to minor crevices and ridging on medium sized trees to deeper ridges on older trees. The bark of sugar maple typically has a light to medium gray color, but its appearance is variable and somewhat confusing. The leaves produce brilliant fall colors ranging from yellow to burnt orange. The thin twigs are green in their youth, turning to a medium brown as they age. The shade-tolerant species has opposite leaf arrangement with relatively long leaf stems as well as opposite branch arrangement. This tree, also called hard maple, has simple leaves typically with five lobes, two smaller lobes at the base and three larger lobes at the top, with u-shaped sinuses between the lobes. This week, we introduce the sugar maple or Acer saccharum. Each week, the Intro to Trees of Indiana web series will offer a sneak peek at one species from the book, paired with an ID That Tree video from Purdue Extension forester Lenny Farlee to help visualize each species as it stands in the woods. Threats to species health as well as also insight into the wood provided by the species, will be provided through additional resources as well as the Hardwoods of the Central Midwest exhibit of the Purdue Arboretum, if available.
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