The red maple is a medium-sized tree with a moderate growth rate. Its bark is smooth and light gray when young, but becomes dark gray and rough as it matures.
Unlike the silver maple, the crushed twigs of the red maple do not have a rank odor.
Its twigs are reddish and have rounded, oblong, vegetative buds. The tree’s lower branches tend to grow upwards.
Red maples are well-suited for suburban or rural landscapes in acid soil regions. They are available in a variety of cultivars that are marketed based on their fall color and growth habit. The tree requires acid soil and is sensitive to wounding.
Manganese deficiencies are common in neutral to alkaline soils or hiring a certified arborist.
Identifying Maple Trees Features and Characteristics
The leaves of the red maple are coarsely toothed with 3-5 shallow lobes. They are typically light or pale green, but turn bright red or orange in the fall. The tree’s twigs are slender and glossy, and turn red as the year progresses.
The red maple is dioecious, meaning that individual trees are either male or female. Male trees do not produce fruit. The tree’s flowers are red and appear in clusters in March or April before the leaves. The fruit, which ripens in May or June, consists of pairs of winged seeds or keys, 1/2-1 inch in length, on long drooping stems. The fruit’s color ranges from red to green and turns tan when mature.
On young red maples, the bark is smooth and gray. On older trees, it becomes darker and rougher, with peeling flakes.
The red maple is found mostly in Pennsylvania. Most red maples grow to a height of about 50 feet.
A Versatile Street Tree with Unique Characteristics
The Norway maple was once one of the most popular street trees in the United States. Native to Europe, it is hardy and retains its leaves longer than other maples. It can tolerate the harsh conditions of cities but is susceptible to verticillium wilt and girdling roots.
The leaves of the Norway maple are 5-lobed and 4-7 inches wide. Unlike the leaves of the red maple, they produce a milky sap when their stalks are broken. The leaves are bright green on the top and shiny on the bottom. In the fall, the foliage turns yellow for the green-foliaged forms.
- The Norway maple is a popular street tree native to Europe
- It is hardy and retains its leaves longer than other maples
- It can tolerate the harsh conditions of cities, but is susceptible to verticillium wilt and girdling roots
- The leaves are 5-lobed and 4-7 inches wide, producing milky sap when the stalk is broken
- The leaves are bright green on top and shiny on the bottom, turning yellow in the fall
- The twigs are reddish-brown and bear large, red, or greenish-red buds
- In early spring, the tree produces yellow to chartreuse flowers in clusters along the twigs
- The fruit has horizontally spreading wings that mature in September or October
- The bark is light brown and smooth on young trees, becoming darker and rougher as the tree ages
- The Norway maple can grow to a height of 50 feet and is distinguished by its larger leaves, milky sap, and horizontal winged fruit.
The way to tell Red Maple and Sugar Maple apart is by the bark. The real difference is that the Red Maple has lighter and smoother bark then the Sugar Maple. Also the Red Maple has a bitter sap as compared to the Sugar Maple.
The Sugar Maple Tree
The sugar maple is a large tree with a symmetrical crown and a slow growth rate. It is often used as a shade tree, although it is not tolerant of urban environments and should not be planted in tree lawns.
Its leaves are simple and 5-lobed with few large teeth, and turn yellow, orange, or red in the fall. The tree’s twigs are reddish-brown and smooth, and its winter buds are smaller and more pointed than those of the Norway maple. The sugar maple’s flowers are yellowish-green and appear in April.
Its fruit consists of two parallel wings that ripen in September. The bark is gray-brown and smooth on young trees but becomes darker and furrowed on older trees.
The sugar maple is a large tree that can grow over 100 feet tall and have a diameter of 3 feet or more. It is generally slow-growing. In the open, it has a symmetrical crown. It is often planted as a shade tree, but is not tolerant of urban environments and should not be used in tree lawns.
The Silver Maple A Fast-Growing Urban Tree
he silver or soft maple is commonly found on moist land and along streams. It can grow over 100 feet tall and have a diameter of more than 3 feet. It typically has a short trunk that divides into a number of large, ascending limbs. These branches subdivide further, and the small branches droop but turn upward at the tips.
The silver maple grows rapidly and has been widely planted as a shade tree. It is the longest-lived of the maples in urban settings because of its tolerance for urban environments.
The wood of the silver maple is soft, weak, even-textured, brittle, and easily worked. It decays readily when exposed to the elements.
The leaves of the silver maple are 3 to 6 inches long and oppositely arranged. They are simple and palmately 5-lobed, with the lobes extending more than half of the way to the midrib. The leaves have irregularly double-toothed margins and are glabrous, with a light green upper surface and a white to silvery lower surface, giving the tree its common name. In the fall, the leaves turn green to yellow-brown, but the coloring is not striking.
The silver maple’s buds are rounded, red or reddish-brown, blunt-pointed, and similar to those of the red maple. The tree also has clusters of globose floral buds. When crushed, the twigs emit a rank odor.
The silver maple’s flowers appear in February or March, before the leaves, in dense clusters. They are greenish-yellow or reddish-yellow in color. The flowers may be the first of any native tree to appear, but are not showy. The tree’s fruit has divergent and curved wings that mature in May or June. It consists of a pair of winged seeds or keys, with wings 1-2 inches long on slender, flexible stems about an inch long.
The fruit can be a litter problem because it is prod