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Silver Maple

Acer saccharinum

Summary 6

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.

The silver maple tree is a relatively fast-growing deciduous tree, commonly reaching a height of 50 - 80 ft, Its spread will generally be 35 - 50 ft wide. A 10-year-old sapling will stand about 26 ft tall. The leaves are simple and palmately veined, 3 - 6 in long and 2 - 5 in broad, with deep angular notches between the five lobes. The long, slender stalks of the leaves mean that even a light breeze can produce a striking effect as the downy silver undersides of the leaves are exposed. The autumn color is less pronounced than in many maples, generally ending up a pale yellow, although some specimens can produce a more brilliant yellow and even orange and red colorations. The tree has a tendency to color and drop its leaves slightly earlier in autumn than other maples.

Silver maple and its close cousin red maple are the only Acer species which produce their fruit crop in spring instead of fall. The seeds of both trees have no epigeal dormancy and will germinate immediately On mature trunks, the bark is gray and shaggy. On branches and young trunks, the bark is smooth and silvery gray.

The silver maple is closely related to the red maple (Acer rubrum) and can hybridise with it. The hybrid is known as the Freeman maple (Acer × freemanii). The Freeman maple is a popular ornamental tree in parks and large gardens, combining the fast growth of silver maple with the less brittle wood, less invasive roots, and the beautiful bright red fall foliage of the red maple.

Native Americans used the sap of wild trees to make sugar, as medicine, and in bread. They used the wood to make baskets and furniture. An infusion of bark removed from the south side of the tree is used by the Mohegan as cough medicine. The Cherokee take an infusion of the bark to treat cramps, menstrual pains, dysentery, and hives. They boil the inner bark and use it with water as a wash for sore eyes. They take a hot infusion of the bark to treat measles. They use the tree to make baskets, for lumber, building material, and for carving.

Sources and Credits

  1. no rights reserved, http://www.flickr.com/photos/55368994@N06/7384248652
  2. (c) Jason M Crockwell, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by Jason M Crockwell
  3. (c) Jason Sturner, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Acer_saccharinum_samaras_Churchill_Woods_Glen_Ellyn_Illinois.jpg
  4. (c) Sara Rall, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Sara Rall
  5. (c) Sandy Wolkenberg, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Sandy Wolkenberg
  6. Adapted by Tom Pollard from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_saccharinum

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