American Forestry 



VOL. XXI 



NOVEMBER, 1915 



No. 263 



The Sugar Maple 



Identification and Characteristics 

 By S. B. Detwiler 



IF TREES had human characteristics, the sugar maple 

 would be the banker of the forest community be- 

 cause of its store of wealth. It is a conservative, 

 dignified, well-dressed tree, conscientious, hard-working 

 and dependable. It loves the quiet life of the country, 

 and has the air of be- 

 longing to "one of our 

 best families,'' but it 

 inspires afifection as 

 well as admiration. 



The maple family 

 has about seventy mem- 

 bers in the world, but 

 sugar maple is by far 

 the most valuable. It 

 is widely distributed 

 through eastern North 

 America, from New- 

 foundland to Manito- 

 ba, and south to Flor- 

 ida and Texas. While 

 sugar maple is the most 

 familiar name, it is 

 also well known as 

 rock maple, hard maple 

 and sugar tree. The 

 black maple is an im- 

 portant variety found 

 throughout the greater 

 portion of its range. 

 This form is not easily 

 distinguished from the 

 true sugar maple. In 

 the south there are two 

 other varieties known 

 as white-bark maple 

 and Florida maple. In 

 the Rocky Mountain 

 region, a near relative, 

 the large-tooth maple, 

 is found. 



The finest and most 

 abundant growth o f 

 the sugar maple is 



From "The Silva of North America," by Sargent; Houghton Mifflin Co., Publishers. 

 THE LEAVES, SEEDS AND FLOWERS OF THE SUGAR MAPLE 

 1. A branch with male flowers, natural size. 2. A branch with female flowers, 

 natural size. 3. A male flower, enlarged. 4. Vertical section of a male flower, 

 enlarged. 5. A female flower, enlarged. 6. Vertical section of a female flower, 

 enlarged. 7. A fruiting branch, natural size. 8. Vertical section of a fruit, 

 natural size. 9. Vertical section of a seed, enlarged, showing undeveloped 

 embryo. 10. An embryo, greatly magnified. 11. A winter branchlet, natural size. 



found ill the New England States, New York north- 

 ern and western Pennsylvania and westward throughout 

 the region of the Great Lakes to Minnesota. In the 

 southern Appalachians it grows well where climatic 

 conditions are similar to those further north. 



Sugar maples grow- 

 ing in the open have a 

 short trunk and a com- 

 pact, well-shaped oval 

 or oblong head. In the 

 forest, its maximum 

 size is about 5 feet in 

 diameter and 180 feet 

 in height. The usual 

 forest maple is 2 to 3 

 feet in diameter, 70 to 

 90 feet high, clear of 

 limbs to within 20 or 

 30 feet of the top, 

 where it forms a small, 

 rounded crown. The 

 bark is usually ash 

 gray, but may be a 

 dark brown. On young 

 trees the bark is 

 smooth but in older 

 trees it has deep fur- 

 rows and is divided in- 

 to broad plates or large, 

 shaggy flakes. The 

 bark has a peculiar 

 hard, flinty appearance. 

 The leaves and buds 

 stand opposite each 

 other on the twigs. The 

 leaves are shaped 

 somewhat like the hu- 

 man hand, the edges 

 being divided into five 

 points or lobes. The 

 deep notches between 

 the points are broadly 

 rounded and serve as 

 an easy means of tell- 

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