It can be sporadically found throughout the Piedmont as it was introduced to the region as an ornamental plant. It is also commonly found in dry forests and woodlands, less typically extending to high elevation northern hardwood forests with acidic situations. Primarily found in the cooler, higher mountains of North Carolina, it prefers to grow in cove forests and other rich forests, especially over areas rich in magnesium and iron (mafic) and lime (calcareous). Northern sugar maple is a deciduous tree in the Sapindaceae (soapberry) family that is native to Eastern and central North America. (from Common Native Trees of Virginia, Virginia Department of Forestry, used with permission.Phonetic Spelling AY-ser sa-KAR-um Description Wings flip upward slightly, rather than droop downward Wings are broadly open, but still droop downward Wings droop downward, somewhat closed together SpeciesĪngle of samara wings to each other where seeds connect So look around on the tree or ground for an intact specimen. Sometimes, in deteriorated specimens, the two wings break apart and you only find a half of the samara. Samaras are mostly looked at for size and the angle that the two “wings” join together. (from Common Native Trees of Virginia, Virginia Department of Forestry, used with permission.) Lighter color that top of leaf, but not silver or white Sides parallel each other at base of lobe Sides parallel each other at base of lobe, wide base Sides parallel or angle inward at lobe base Lighter color than top of leaf, but not silver or white U- shaped sinuses, shallow to moderate deep sinuses U to V-cut sinuses cut deeply in towards axis Sinuses can be shallow in that they barely intrude into the leaf face or they can plunge deeply in towards the center leaf axis. Sometimes these are “U shaped” and sometimes they are more “V” shaped. The sinus is the place where two lobes’ bases meet. The base of that lobe (part of lobe closest to center of the leaf) can be either wider or narrower, straight-sided or angled inward or outward.
The terminal lobe of a maple leaf is the lobe directly opposite the stem on the central axis. These are not lobes themselves, but teeth on the lowest two lobes-that can be confusing. On many maple leaves, there are two smallish teeth at the base of the leaf, closest to the leaf stem with no vein. The easiest ways to compare maple species for beginners is either looking at the leaves or the “helicopter” seeds, called samaras.Īlways look at a few different leaves or samaras from the same tree, not just one. Groups or stands of maple may be a sugar maple, or another maple. In natural woodlands, red maples tend to be smaller, understory trees that grow singly, for the most part. So, if you determine you do want to use maple browse and greens to feed animals, how do you identify the maples to avoid from the many other maples that may be safe to use for browse? The chart below will compare some features of our native maples, but remember, there are a lot of cultivars out there, so it could get confusing, especially for yard landscape trees.Īlso, here’s a great identification website for New England, Go Botany.Īnd also, tree identification key you can use from the Arbor Day Foundation. In our database, sixteen animals are listed on as utilizing some species of maple bark or browse in their diets. In addition to the many native Virginia maples, there are a lot of ornamental, cultivated varieties that landscapers use. In Virginia most silver and sugar maples are in the west half of the state. You will have to decide whether to ban all maple species as browse in your practice or not. Their findings lead them to suspect that– in addition to red maple– both sugar and silver maple could also be problematic, so all maples should be avoided for horses and any equine species. Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Animal Sciences researched into the mechanisms behind red maple toxicosis. Red maple browse and greens are widely reported in the literature to be problematic. And, I have not seen any indication that seeds are toxic, from any of the maple species. The plant is not cyanogenic, but has similar effects and has been lethal to horses. Red maple ( Acer rubrum) has toxic constituents in browse that can be dangerous when ingesting wilting and dried leaves. When it comes to maple browse and greens, we should be mindful of the exact species we offer.
Since toxic reactions are often linked to quantity-“the dose makes the poison”-these variations should be kept in mind. For example, all oaks have tannins, but some oak species are higher in tannins than other oak species. We always have to keep in mind that chemical constituents vary across species in any given genus.
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