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silver maple

Acer saccharinum

Summary 7

Pollen high and nectar good

They occur throughout US and southern Canada. And furnish the first nectar and pollen in many states. Red Maple (A. rubrum) is the earliest blooming species opening its flowers on the first warm day in February and March in the central states. Sugar Maple (A. saccharum) blooms a month later when the weather is better and bees occasionally store a small surplus but most of the honey is used in brood rearing. (Lovell, H. B. (1966). Honey Plants Manual)

Fresh seeds (ideally picked straight from the tree and not dried) shoudl be sown in fal to chill over winter, with germination occuring in the spring. Best in deep, fertile soils, but in practice, it thrives on any moderate fertile soil. Young trees grow rapidly and are remarkably tolerant of being shaded, but they themselves cast a deep shade as they mature. (Kingsbury, N. (2015). Hidden natural histories: The secret properties of 150 species. The University of Chicago Press)

Acer saccharinum, commonly known as silver maple, creek maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, large maple, water maple, swamp maple, or white maple—is a species of maple native to eastern and central North America in the eastern United States and Canada. It is one of the most common trees in the United States.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Mark Kluge, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Mark Kluge
  2. no rights reserved, http://www.flickr.com/photos/55368994@N06/7384248652
  3. no rights reserved, uploaded by Kent McFarland
  4. (c) Sandy Wolkenberg, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Sandy Wolkenberg
  5. (c) dleaon1, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by dleaon1
  6. (c) Raul Urgelles, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Raul Urgelles
  7. Adapted by Megan W. from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_saccharinum

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