Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum
The sugar maple has brilliantly colored red, orange, and yellow foliage in the fall and its sap is used for producing maple syrup. It is a popular shade tree and is long-lived, typically 200-years or longer.
Acer saccharum, the sugar maple, is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States.[1] It is best known for being the primary source of maple syrup and for its brightly colored fall foliage.[2] It may also be known as "rock maple" or "hard maple", particularly when referring to the wood.[3]
Acer saccharum is a deciduous tree normally reaching heights of 80 to 115 feet,[4],[5] and exceptionally up to 45 m (150 ft).[6] A 10-year-old tree is typically about 20 feet tall. The leaves are deciduous, up to 7.9 inches long and wide,4 palmate, with five lobes and borne in opposite pairs. The basal lobes are relatively small, while the upper lobes are larger and deeply notched. In contrast with the angular notching of the silver maple, however, the notches tend to be rounded at their interior.
The fall color is often spectacular, ranging from bright yellow on some trees through orange to fluorescent red orange on others. Sugar maples also tend to color unevenly in fall. In some trees, all colors above can be seen at the same time. They also share a tendency with red maples for certain parts of a mature tree to change color weeks ahead of or behind the remainder of the tree.
The sugar maple is native to areas with cooler climates and requires a hard freeze each winter for proper dormancy. Seed germination also requires extremely low temperatures, the optimal being just slightly above freezing, and no other known tree species has this property. The minimum seed-bearing age of sugar maple is about 30 years. The tree is long-lived, typically 200 years and occasionally as much as 300[7].
It is an extremely important species to the ecology of many forests in the northern United States and Canada. Pure stands are common, and it is a major component of the northern and Midwestern U.S. hardwood forests. Due to its need for cold winters, sugar maple is mostly found north of the 42nd parallel in USDA growing zones 3–5. It is less common in the southern part of its range (USDA Zone 6) where summers are hot and humid; there sugar maple is confined to ravines and moist flatlands. In the east, from Maryland southward, it is limited to the Appalachians. In the west, Tennessee represents the southern limit of its range and Missouri its southwestern limit. Collection of sap for sugar is also not possible in the southern part of sugar maple's range as winter temperatures do not become cold enough.
Acer saccharum is among the most shade tolerant of large deciduous trees. Sugar maple can tolerate virtually any soil type short of pure sand but does not tolerate xeric or swampy conditions. Sugar maples are deeper-rooted than most maples and engage in hydraulic lift, drawing water from lower soil layers and exuding that water into upper, drier soil layers. This not only benefits the tree itself, but also many other plants growing around it.[8]
The wood from the sugar maple is used as hardwood lumber for bowling alleys, basketball courts, and is a popular wood for baseball bats, along with white ash. In recent years, because white ash has become threatened by emerald ash borer, sugar maple wood has increasingly displaced it for baseball bat production. It is also widely used in the manufacture of musical instruments, such as the members of the violin family (sides and back), guitars (neck), grand pianos (rim), and drum shells. It is also often used in the manufacture of sporting goods.[9],[10]
Sugar maple was a favorite street and park tree during the 19th century because it was easy to propagate and transplant, is fairly fast-growing, and has beautiful fall color. Human influences have contributed to the decline of the sugar maple in many regions. Its role as a species of mature forests has led it to be replaced by more opportunistic species in areas where forests are cut over. The sugar maple also exhibits a greater susceptibility to pollution than other species of maple. Acid rain and soil acidification are some of the primary contributing factors to maple decline. Also, the increased use of salt over the last several decades on streets and roads for deicing purposes has decimated the sugar maple's role as a street tree.[11],[12]
[1] "Acer saccharum". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
[2] Sugar Maple Tree Facts: Sugar Maple Tree Growing Information, www.gardeningknowhow.com
[3] Meier, Eric. Hard Maple, The Wood Database
[4] Acer saccharum, Northern Ontario Plant Database.
[5] Acer saccharum, Oklahoma Biological Survey. Archived from the original on 9 November 2007.
[6] GSMNP tall trees, Nativetreesociety.org. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
[7] Acer saccharum Marsh (usda.gov)
[8] Emerman, Steven H.; Dawson, Todd E. (1996). "Hydraulic lift and its influence on the water content of the rhizosphere: an example from sugar maple, Acer saccharum". Oecologia. 108 (2): 273–278.
[9] Sugar Maple Plant Guide (PDF). United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
[10] Kaufman, David (8 October 2020). "Lenny Kravitz Designs a Showstopping Piano for Steinway & Sons". Architectural Digest.
[11] "Sugar Maple Faces Extinction Threat". The New York Times. 7 December 1986. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
[12] Siek, Stephanie V. "Sugar Maples Fall Victim to Road Salt". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 11 April 2018.