Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Identifying Features
Plant Family: Sapindaceae
Native Range: Eastern North America
Leaf: deciduous, opposite, simple, five-lobed leaves, bottom two lobes are the smallest
Twig and Bud: twigs brown with small lenticels, buds are brown and conical with overlapping scales, buds resemble ice cream cones
Flower, Fruit and Seed: flowers are greenish-yellow on long stalks, winged seeds are 1-1 3/4 inches long and often shaped like a horseshoe
Bark: mature bark furrowed and scaly, bark color is variable
Shape and Mature Height: dense rounded crowns, often grow to 80 feet
Garden Value and Considerations
Sugar maples have excellent fall color with variable shades of red, orange, yellow and green. They need fertile, moist, well-drained soils and grow poorly in compacted soils. They are intolerant of urban pollution, road salt and restricted conditions. Sugar maple flowers can be monoecious or dioecious, producing male and female flowers on the same tree or on different trees.
Notes
Native Americans taught early colonists how to tap the sweet sap of maples to make syrup. While the sap of any maple can be used, sugar maple has the highest sugar content. Maples serve as a food source for hundreds of caterpillars, including the rosy maple moth caterpillar. As an adult, the bright pink and yellow colors of the moth help it to camouflage among the winged fruits of maple trees.