Sugar maple
- Latin name: Acer saccharum Marsh.
- French name: Érable à sucre
- Synonym(s): Hard maple rock maple
- Taxonomic Serial Number: 28731
- Hardiness zone: NA3, C4
Description
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
Photos
Photos
Anthony Scullion
Anthony Scullion
Insects and mites
Insects that cause damage to this tree.
-
Ashflower gall
Scientific name: Eriophyes fraxiniflora Felt
-
Galls of hardwoods
Scientific name: Eriophyes sp.
-
Pale winged grey
Scientific name: Iridopsis ephyraria (Wlk.)
Flowers, fruits, or seeds
-
Redcrossed stink bug
Scientific name: Leptocorus trivittatus (Say)
Foliage or buds
Bruce spanworm complex
- Operophtera bruceata (Hulst)
- Operophtera danbyi (Hulst)
- Operophtera occidentalis (Hulst)
Hemlock looper
-
Lambdina fiscellaria
(Guenée)
- Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria
- Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa
- Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria
-
Bruce spanworm complex
Scientific names:
- Operophtera bruceata (Hulst)
- Operophtera danbyi (Hulst)
- Operophtera occidentalis (Hulst)
-
Crimson erineum mite
Scientific name: Aceria elongatus (Hodgkiss)
-
Forest tent caterpillar
Scientific name: Malacosoma disstria Hubner
-
Greenstriped mapleworm
Scientific name: Dryocampa rubicunda (Fabricius)
-
Hemlock looper
Scientific names:
-
Lambdina fiscellaria
(Guenée)
- Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria
- Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa
- Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria
-
Lambdina fiscellaria
(Guenée)
-
Maple bladdergall mite
Scientific name: Vasates quadripedes Shimer
-
Maple leafblotch miner
Scientific name: Cameraria aceriella (Clemens)
-
Maple leafcutter
Scientific name: Paraclemensia acerifoliella (Fitch)
-
Maple leafroller
Scientific name: Sparganothis acerivorana MacKay
-
Pear thrips
Scientific name: Taeniothrips inconsequens (Uzel)
- Protoboarmia porcelaria (Guenee)
-
Redcrossed stink bug
Scientific name: Leptocorus trivittatus (Say)
-
Saddled prominent
Scientific name: Heterocampa guttivitta Walker
-
Whitetriangle leafroller
Scientific name: Clepsis persicana (Fitch)
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Diseases caused by pathogens
Diseases caused by pathogens that cause damage to this tree.
-
Xylaria root rot
Pathogen name: Xylaria polymorpha (Pers.) Grev.
Foliage or buds
-
Maple leaf spot
Pathogen name: Phyllosticta minima (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Underw. & Earle
-
Speckled tar spot
Pathogen name: Rhytisma punctatum (Pers.) Fr.
-
Tar spot
Pathogen name: Rhytisma americanum Hudler & Banik
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
White spongy trunk rot
Pathogen name: Fomes fomentarius (L.) Fr. (Common name for this fungus: tinder conk)
General information
Sugarbush health and management - Insect pests
Poster to help identify the major defoliator insects of sugarbushes
Sugarbush health management - Injuries and defense mechanisms
Poster presenting types of injuries in sugarbushes and defense mechanisms of sugar maples
Sugarbush health management - Diseases
Poster to help identify some leaf, trunk and root diseases of sugar maples
Distribution map
