![]() ![]() ![]() Many of the root systems are typically dense and fibrous, inhibiting the growth of other vegetation underneath them. There are a few exceptions such as sugar maple. Most are shade-tolerant when young and are often riparian, understory, or pioneer species rather than climax overstory trees. Most species are deciduous, and many are renowned for their autumn leaf colour, but a few in southern Asia and the Mediterranean region are evergreen. Others are shrubs less than 10 meters tall with a number of small trunks originating at ground level. Most maples are trees growing to a height of 10–45 m (33–148 ft). The oldest fossils of Acer in Europe are from Svalbard, dating to the late Eocene ( Priabonian ~38-34 million years old). The oldest known fossils of Acer are from the late Paleocene of Northeast Asia and northern North America, around 60 million years old. The closest relative of Acer is Dipteronia, which only has two living species in China, but has a fossil record extending back to the middle Paleocene in North America. Many maple species are grown in gardens where they are valued for their autumn colour. It is one of the most common genera of trees in Asia. Maple syrup is made from the sap of some maple species. ![]() The closest relatives of the maples are the horse chestnuts. Maples usually have easily recognizable palmate leaves ( Acer negundo is an exception) and distinctive winged fruits. The type species of the genus is the sycamore maple, Acer pseudoplatanus, the most common maple species in Europe. Only one species, Acer laurinum, extends to the Southern Hemisphere. There are approximately 132 species, most of which are native to Asia, with a number also appearing in Europe, northern Africa, and North America. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae. 2004.Acer pseudoplatanus (sycamore maple) foliageĪcer ( / ˈ eɪ s ər/) is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. Plant Guide: Sugar Maple, USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & the Biota of North America Program. Forest Trees of the Northeast, edited by Lassoie, Luzadis, and Grover. Textbook of Dendrology. McGraw-Hill Inc., N.Y. The Complete Trees of North America Field Guide and Natural History. United States Department of Agriculture.Įlias, T.S. Trees of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. Songbirds, woodpeckers, and cavity nesters use the sugar maple as a home.īrockman, C.F. White-tailed deer, moose, porcupine, squirrels and snowshoe hare commonly eat the bark, twigs, or fruit of the sugar maple. Sugar maple is of high ecological importance, providing food and shelter for a wide variety of organisms. Sugar maple constitutes about 6% of the hardwood saw timber value in the US, with rising production of saw timber and firewood. The wood is valued for being hard, heavy and strong common uses include furniture, flooring, and veneer as well as tool handles, musical instruments, and baseball bats. Native Americans also used the sap as a fresh or fermented beverage or soured as vinegar when cooking meat. Along with honey, sugar maple was the main source of sweetener for Native Americans and early European settlers. The watery sap is boiled or evaporated into a thick syrup or undergoes further evaporation to produce maple sugar, a common candy. An individual tree can produce 5-60 liters of sap per day, which may sound like a lot, but 35-45 liters of sap are required to make 1 liter of syrup. Trees are tapped in early spring when the sap begins to flow and sugar content is highest. It is the favorable tree for syrup production as the sap contains twice the sugar concentration of any other maple species (~2.5% sugar). It is the state tree of New York and is featured on the Canadian flag, evidence of its value to the Northern territories. Sugar maple has huge historical and economic importance for its use in the maple sugar and timber industries. The range of sugar maple extends from Nova Scotia and Quebec at its northern edge, west to Ontario, southeastern Manitoba, and western Minnesota, south to southern Missouri, and east to Tennessee and northern Georgia. It does best on moist, well-drained soils and poorly on dry, shallow, or swampy soils. Sugar maple is a shade tolerant tree common in many northern hardwood and mixed forests. It is one of the largest and most important hardwood species in North America, typically reaching 70-90 feet in height with a dense, spreading crown. Sugar maple ( Acer saccharum) is a deciduous tree also referred to as hard maple or rock maple. Leaves – simple, deciduous, usually 5-lobed, and with entire margins.īuds – imbricated, brown, and sharply pointed.įruit – ¾-1″ U-shaped samaras that mature in the fall.īark – variable, gray (often with a brown tinge), and furrowed-scaly when older. ![]()
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