How To Identify Sugar Maples
Wait, wait, wait, WHAT?! A maple sugaring post before the Autumnal Equinox even?!
Yes, and for good reason. We might be five to six months away from the sap run, but now is the time to identify which trees we want to tap come February. We’ve tapped the same couple of trees for 3 seasons straight, and we want to tap a few more this year to increase our yields. While I’ve made a mental note every spring to scout out more sugar maples once the leaves grow out on the trees, somehow April through October is just never enough time for me to remember to actually do it. This year I finally got around to it.
The best way to identify a sugar maple is by its leaves, and then use its helicopter seeds as a distinguishing feature between sugar and Norway maples. You CAN use other physical features such as bark and buds as identifiers (say if the leaves are down), but it’s not especially easy unless you have a degree in Forestry Management or perhaps happen to be an Eagle Scout. Neither of these apply to me. Why is it difficult? Well, take the bark for example. Theoretically sugar maples have very rough bark. That said, each tree is an individual. I’ll show you three that are all on our property at varying stages of growth:
You see? As for using buds, I haven’t found that the buds are large enough in our climate when the time comes to tap to figure anything out from them.
It’s far better to identify which trees you want to tap NOW before they shed their leaves so you’re not wandering around aimlessly come Valentine’s Day, trying to assess where you should put your drill. So, without further ado, here is the leaf of a sugar maple:
Does it look like the Canadian flag, except green? It’s a sugar maple. Is it red like the Canadian flag? It’s a red maple, not a sugar maple. See below:
There is also what’s called a silver maple. The leaf shape is similar, but it is more ‘pinched’ looking and far thinner. Plus, the underside is silvery (hence the name.) If you have a maple that you suspect is a silver, compare a leaf to the picture above. Despite the similarity of shape they don’t actually resemble each other much.
Now we come to Norway maples. Norway maples are an invasive species in North America and are, in my opinion, the only trees that may give you pause to wonder. The leaf of a Norway maple is near identical to that of a sugar maple. This is where examining the seeds is important as a last to-be-sure measure. Sugar maple seeds make a ‘V’:
Norway maple seeds are more splayed out like the silhouettes of geese flying south. We do not have any Norway maples on our property, so I split apart the sugar maple seed and put it in the shape of that of a Norway for you to see:
Can you tap a red, silver or Norway maple and make maple syrup? Yes. You can even tap a number of different non-maple trees and get syrup. The issue with other trees (including other maples) is that the sugar to water ratio is much lower and you will need many more gallons of sap to boil down to make syrup. As it is, it takes 30+ gallons of sap from a sugar maple to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. It would take many, many more gallons to make syrup from any other tree, so for the most part getting adventurous with tapping is really for those with much more time than I.
That’s about it! If you’re into maple sugaring, or want to be this year, get out now and find your trees. Homesteading is all about putting in effort for projects that you intend to undertake 6 months to a year from now. Case in point: we’re working on getting our goats bred now so we can milk in the Spring. So don’t hesitate! If it’s time to pick up something new, then get out there and start it now. Your future self will thank you.
Also see: