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( Sugar maple)
Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple) is a species of maple native to the hardwood forests of northeastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, and south to Georgia and Texas.[1] It is a deciduous tree normally reaching heights of 25–35 m tall,[2][3] and exceptionally up to 45 m (150 feet).[4] The leaves are deciduous, 8-15 cm long and equally wide with five palmate lobes. 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 through orange to fluorescent red-orange. Sugar maples also have a tendency to color unevenly in fall. In some trees, all colors above can be seen at the same time. There is also a tendency, as there is also with Red Maples (A. rubrum) to see a certain part of a mature tree change color weeks ahead of or behind the remainder of the tree. The leaf buds are pointy and brown colored. The recent years growth twigs are green, and turn dark brown. The flowers are in corymbs of 5-10 together, yellow-green and without petals; flowering occurs in early spring after 30-55 growing degree days. The fruit is a double samara with two winged seeds, the seeds are globose, 7-10 mm diameter, the wing 2-3 cm long. The seeds fall from the tree in autumn. It is closely related to the Black Maple, which is sometimes included in this species but sometimes separated as Acer nigrum. The western American Bigtooth Maple (Acer grandidentatum) is also treated as a variety or subspecies of Sugar Maple by some botanists.
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