Sugar maple

Leaves

Form

• 5 (occasionally 3) lobes
• Tips long, blunt-pointed
• Central lobe almost square
• Central and lateral lobes separated by wide rounded notches
• Lower surface hairless

Length

• 8–20 cm

Width

• Wider than long

Colour

• Upper surface deep yellowish-green
• Lower surface yellowish-green

Autumn colour

• Yellow to bright orange to bright red

Margin

• Teeth irregular, wavy  

Petiole

• 4–8 cm long

Buds

Form

• Terminal bud present
• Narrowly cone-shaped
• Sharp-pointed
• 6–8 pairs of faintly hairy scales

Length

• 6–12 mm

Colour

• Medium to dark brown

Twigs

Form

• Hairless, shiny

Colour

• Reddish-brown to green

Flowers

Form

• Without petals
• 5 sepals
• Drooping, tassel-like lateral (sometimes terminal) corymbs
• Stalks slender

Length

• Stalks 30–70 mm

Colour

• Sepals greenish-yellow

Structure

• Polygamo-monoecious

Floral timing

• Before the leaves

Fruits

Form

• Wings slightly divergent
• Seedcase plump
• Keys in drooping clusters
• Stalks slender
• Paired keys often shed as a unit
• Usually only one samara contains a viable seed
• Seeds produced most years
• Often germinate and have fully expanded cotyledons in early spring

Length

• Wings 30–35 mm
• Stalks usually longer than the wings

Structure

• Samara
• In joined pairs

Bark

Form

• At first smooth
• Dividing into long, vertical, firm, irregular ridges curling outward along one side
• Occasionally somewhat scaly

Colour

• Grey, becoming dark grey

Wood

Texture

• Heavy, hard, strong

Colour

• Light yellowish-brown

Morphology

• Diffuse-porous
• Rays easily visible

Figure

• Often with a curly grain (bird’s-eye)

Uses

• Furniture, toys, cabinetwork, veneer, plywood, flooring
• Turned woodenware, cutting blocks

Size

Height

• To 35 m

Diameter

• To 90 cm

Maximum age

• 200 years

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Straight
• Often branch-free for two-thirds or more of its height

Crown

• Narrow, round-topped

Root system

• Deep, wide-spreading

Habitat

Site

• Deep, fertile, moist, well-drained soils with some lime content
• On the Canadian Shield, deep soils low in lime
• Decomposing leaves enrich the soil by reducing the acidity and increasing the mineral content

Light tolerance

• Tolerates heavy shade for many years
• Grows normally when released by an opening in the canopy

Associated species

• Usually mixed with other broadleaf species, as well as eastern white pine and eastern hemlock

Range

Maritime provinces, southern Ontario, and Quebec