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West Virginia Trees

Chapter 108: SUGAR MAPLE
By A. B. Brooks
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Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

A practical field guide to the native and introduced trees of West Virginia, providing keys based mainly on leaves and fruits, concise family and species descriptions, and detailed line drawings for about 101 native species. It organizes trees by botanical families, gives brief flower notes, a glossary of terms, and suggestions for identifying specimens; occasional introduced species and shrubs are noted. The bulletin emphasizes simplicity for non-specialists, offers measurements and habit descriptions for each species, and includes administrative prefatory material. Its aim is to aid lay readers and students in tree identification and to encourage local interest in forestry.

SUGAR MAPLE

Acer saccharum, Marsh.

Form.—Height 60-100 feet, diameter 3-5 feet; trunk of trees in close stands long, clear and straight; crown conical or round-topped, with many ascending and horizontal branches.

Leaves.—Opposite, simple, 3-5 inches long, 5-lobed with rounded sinuses and sparingly sinuate-toothed margins; smooth and dark green above, paler and somewhat downy on the veins beneath.

Flowers.—April-May; polygamo-monoecious or dioecious; both kinds of flowers on thread-like, hairy pedicels in drooping corymbs; greenish yellow.

Fruit.—Matures in early autumn; clustered groups of paired samaras, glabrous, with slightly diverging wings about 1 inch long.

Bark.—Deeply fissured and with prominent dark gray, flaky ridges.

Wood.—Heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, durable, light brown to reddish.

Range.—Newfoundland to Florida and Texas.

Distribution in West Virginia.—Found in nearly all parts of the State; most abundant on upland flats and in rich coves along the Alleghanies from Preston County through Tucker, Barbour, Randolph, Pocahontas, Greenbrier and Monroe; common in the high hilly sections lying west of the mountains, rare in the Eastern Panhandle.

Habitat.—Moist, rich soils of river valleys, coves, and high flats and rocky loams of hillsides.

Notes.—The Sugar, or Rock Maple is one of our best known and most valuable trees. Its timber is becoming more highly prized as other species are disappearing. Interior finish, furniture, shoe-lasts and cross-ties are among the common uses of this wood. It is the principal species from which maple syrup and sugar are made, and one of the very best trees for ornamental planting.